Magic Johnson Apologizes to Lakers Nation, Backtracking on Load Management Accusations

Magic Johnson gave a detailed analysis of the Lakers’ 2023-24 season after their playoff run came to a quick end in the first round.  The Denver Nuggets beat the Lakers 4-1, and Johnson shared three separate tweets to highlight the flaws of the Lakers. Two days after the remarks, Johnson now wants to take back one of his pointers about load management, which he thought was the trouble for the Los Angles Lakers. Notably, this came along with an apology. 

Magic Johnson wrote on Twitter, “Laker Nation, I have to apologize to the Lakers organization. It was injuries that plagued the Lakers this season, not load management.” The 5x champion tweeted two days ago, “The Lakers have nobody but themselves to blame. They wouldn’t have been in the play-in game or finished as a 7th seed this season if they hadn’t lost too many games because of load management.“

The Lakers did not let their players load manage this season. In fact, their two main superstars, Anthony Davis and LeBron James, played more than 70 games this season. AD played a career-high of 76 games this year, while James played 71. However, the Lakers had a lot of injuries towards the end of the season. Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood, and Gabe Vincent are a few notable players, who were sidelined during the second half of the regular season. Thus, Johnson cleared the air around his tweet on load management. 

How did Magic Johnson suddenly recall his mistake? The fans let the 3x MVP know that he was wrong in the comments. But there was also an ESPN analyst, who called out Johnson by highlighting this in his YouTube video. 

Did Magic Johnson listen to Stephen. A. Smith’s rant about his mistake? 

Stephen. A. Smith released a one-hour video on his YouTube channel earlier yesterday. In one of the segments, he spoke about Johnson’s criticism of the Lakers and also went through the tweet about load management. He read out Johnson’s tweet and added, “I don’t know about that…Anthony Davis played 76 games. LeBron James played 70 games. That’s more game he has ever played as a Laker…I don’t know what he is talking about load management here, but I get his point though.“

Anyhow, Johnson was on point with the rest of his remarks about the LA Lakers. He highlighted that the young teams of the Western Conference are about to take over the league soon and that the Lakers must add some depth to their roster. He also wants the Lakers to be stronger mentally and physically. He pinpointed this as the reason for their loss against the Denver Nuggets. And now, he has also rectified his point on injuries.