Magic Johnson Calls on Lakers to Lose, Showing he has a Competition Problem

A few years ago, Magic Johnson came to Dallas for a charity event that included playing a game of H-O-R-S-E at Roger Staubach’s house. Staubach, a notorious competitor, has a basketball court in his backyard where the basic rule is: Roger wins.

There were several former Cowboys there along with slam dunk legend Spud Webb and Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman.

Magic made the final in the competition and was playing a woman, who I believe was a former college player. She was about 5-2 and was a very good mid-range shooter.

Midway through the game, Magic attempted a shot from about 15 feet and used a move that had been one of his favorites, kicking one leg out and jumping off the other leg. When he did that during his playing career, it often caused contact and drew a foul, but in this game, it was just a shot. But not this day.

After the shot went in, the woman went to the spot, took a simple jump shot and made it. But Magic stopped the game, loudly saying she did not kick her leg out and he wanted her to take it again. She thought he was joking.

He was not. He got the ball, took the shot again to demonstrate, kicked his leg out again and said, “That’s how you’ve got to do it. You’ve got to kick your leg out.” She still thought he was kidding.

He was not. The scene went on for about a minute, which seemed like a half-hour. Everyone was quiet and uncomfortable but Magic kept telling her to take the shot. Finally she did and missed.

I was standing next to Staubach, who had a puzzled look on his face and said: “What’s the deal with this guy?”

As ferocious as Staubach could be competitively, Magic was in another league.

So when I read last week about Magic tweeting that the Lakers need to lose as much as possible (they didn’t listen Friday against the Spurs) so they could get a better draft pick, part of me giggled because that was just Earvin being Earvin.

Laker Nation: Today in NY, I said I hope the Lakers don’t win too many games because I want them to have the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) December 10, 2014

Laker Nation: Today in NY, I said I hope the Lakers don’t win too many games because I want them to have the 1st or 2nd pick in the draft. — Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) December 10, 2014

He may not be in the Charles Barkley stratosphere, but Earvin Johnson Jr. has made his share of provocative statements.

But I did recognize the virgin territory Magic had entered. Promoting losing when he has always preached winning would seem to be a contradiction. Michael Jordan’s father made the infamous statement that his son didn’t have a gambling problem; he had a competition problem.

Magic is as maniacal if not worse. This is a guy who organized an All-Star team made up for former NBA players and toured cities on four continents after his first retirement with HIV. The team went 55-0 but after one game was closer than Magic liked, he threatened to cut the whole team if they lost a game. These were exhibitions.

And even in pickup games with no referees around in Los Angeles, when Magic is in a close game and the game is on the line, his competitors know he will very likely get the ball, very likely drive to the basket and very likely call a foul on anyone who touches him. There is one rule in those pickup games: Magic wins.

The more I thought about it, however, the conclusion I came to was that Magic’s desire for the Lakers to lose actually fits with his personality and history. He hasn’t changed; the competition has.

Johnson believes the Lakers are competing for a title, just not one this season. To win in 2016, 2017 or beyond, the Lakers have to acquire talent. The odds of getting a great player in the draft increase dramatically the higher draft pick a team gets, so if the Lakers can’t win a title this year, the only realistic competition is for the No. 1 pick. And the only way a team can get that is to lose.

So who can do the best job at losing? Philadelphia and Detroit are doing wonderful jobs of losing. The Timberwolves are holding their own. And what about those Knicks? Maybe Phil Jackson is practicing what Magic is preaching.

Even though Magic’s desire to be the best at losing so the Lakers can win is somewhat consistent with his competitive streak, if that had been suggested to him during his playing days, he would have responded like Kobe Bryant and others last week.

There is a lot of magic in Earvin Johnson Jr., so we tend to cut him a lot of slack and he deserves it. But even though it is correct that losing leads to better draft picks and better draft picks lead to better teams, that sort of mentality is something that we’ve never celebrated.

Three decades ago, the scoundrel Donald Sterling made a similar public comment about the benefits of losing and was fined by the league. Magic has to know that if he’s in the same neighborhood as Sterling, it’s not a good one.

From Magic, we expect him to put pressure on the Lakers front office to be sharp enough to draft a player like Klay Thompson at 11, Kobe Bryant at 13, Steve Nash at 15 or Rajon Rondo at 21. We expect Magic to be influential in convincing a premium free agent to join the team. We expect his approach to winning – whether it’s in the backyard, an exhibition or a pickup game – to be what it always has.

And if the only way to win is to be the best at losing, that’s a competition we’d rather see Magic not enter.

Jan Hubbard has written about basketball since 1976 and worked in the NBA league office for eight years between media stints. Follow him on Twitter at @whyhub.

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