Another year, another first-round exit for the Lakers. When Rob Pelinka pulled off the blockbuster Luka Doncic trade in February, Laker Nation’s hopes of winning the championship skyrocketed. Luka and LeBron together: No one could beat this duo four out of seven times in a playoff series. Or so everyone thought. Until the Timberwolves proved them wrong.

Asserting their dominance, Anthony Edwards and Co. closed out the series in just five games, that too on the Lakers’ home court. Thus, ending the LA team’s season. Even Lakers legend, Magic Johnson, couldn’t help but acknowledge the Wolves’ impressive showing, as he tweeted, “Congratulations to my good friend Minnesota Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez, superstar Anthony Edwards and the entire Minnesota Timberwolves team for beating my Lakers and advancing to the next round.”

While the praise for Wolves was understandable, what he wrote next raised a lot of eyebrows: “The reason the Lakers lost was because they played awful on defense, they were too small, and the Timberwolves dominated them in the paint.” Yes, a major reason behind losing this series was the Lakers’ lack of a reliable center. Sure, they had Jaxson Hayes to fill that spot during the regular season. But he couldn’t find a spot in JJ Redick’s rotation in the first round. He averaged only 7.8 minutes per game.

Following the Luka acquisition, Rob Pelinka tried to strengthen the roster by trading for Hornets’ Mark Williams. He sent rookie Dalton Knecht, among other assets, to Charlotte in exchange. However, the Center failed his physical upon arriving in LA, and Pelinka had no option but to rescind the trade. With no big man to rely on, Redick tried putting his forwards on the Center spot, like Dorian Finney-Smith tonight. But the strategy did not work against the Wolves. So, Magic was right about the Lakers’ losing this series because they were too small. But was it his fault all along?

NBA World highlights Magic Johnson’s controversial past decisions that continue to haunt the Lakers

Soon after Magic’s critical tweet, Laker Nation turned the tables on him by bringing up his questionable decisions during his time as the team’s President of Basketball Operations. Comments like “Zubac for Muscala, shut up” and “Too small… Because you traded our Center” began flooding in.

During the 2018-19 season, the Lakers made a shocking move by letting go of Ivica Zubac in exchange for Mike Muscala. The hope was to improve perimeter shooting by adding Muscala, who shot 37.1% from deep the previous season. Meanwhile, Zubac was just a third-year player who was still establishing his identity. So, the trade happened under Magic’s watch. And the move backfired.

Muscala struggled in the Lakers uniform, with his numbers dropping significantly. He was gone the very next season. Meanwhile, Zubac gradually turned into a star playing for the Clippers and continues to be a part of their starting lineup. So, many fans blamed Magic for ruining Jeanie Buss’ team with his $5 million decision, the sum Muscala was owed in his contract that year. The Lakers took on that $5 million salary when they traded for Muscala — a short-term rental who cost over three times as much as Zubac, still on his rookie deal.

Many even wondered how differently this series would have played out if the Lakers still had Zubac: “Just think how this goes if we had Zubac.”

Well, Zubac just had a career year with the Clippers, averaging 16.8 points and over twelve rebounds. He is currently going toe to toe against Nikola Jokic in the first-round series. Had Magic not traded him, Ivica could have played the same role for the Lakers, and maybe even stopped Rudy Gobert’s wrath.

“How can you not mention Rudy?” One fan questioned Magic Johnson. Yes, it was Rudy’s 27-point, 24-rebound performance that made all the difference tonight. The Lakers never felt smaller than they did in Game 5.

Adding to the blame on Johnson, one netizen pointed out another one of his crucial mistakes while he was in Lakers’ management, “Drafting Lonzo over Tatum and Trading Zubac for Muscala.” Back in 2017, Magic made another error in judgment by drafting Lonzo Ball at number two instead of Jayson Tatum. He also overlooked stars like De’Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell, and Lauri Markkanen.

Sure, Lonzo turned out to be a decent player. But he is nowhere close to any of the aforementioned stars. And it looks like the Lakers are still haunted by Magic’s bad front-office decisions. Do you agree?