When Magic spoke, we should not have been surprised – Orange County Register

The world according to Jim (aka, As The Lakers Turn):

• Earvin Johnson has never been one to hold his tongue. We liked this at home over the years, even though we had some difficult times too. He wears his heart on his sleeve, he almost never says a comment and he is often painfully honest, sometimes to the detriment of his own image.

It's a little what happened on Monday, when Magic became a metal jacket on the Lakers front office. He surprised the arrival of new coach Frank Vogel, which may have been a coincidence. The host of the first edition, Stephen A. Smith, insisted Monday morning on the radio show that his appearance is reserved before the Lakers hire a coach, much less a date for a press conference.

More significantly, Magic specifically criticized Rob Pelinka, his name, who, for the most part, was well known to insiders in the NBA but had largely not been awarded. …

• The immediate story was that Magic had damaged his image by pronouncing himself and that his comments were interested. Maybe at the first, probably the second, but Magic said things that needed to be said. And at least he spoke. …

• I congratulated Pelinka for at least confronting the media on Monday during the Q & A session of the Vogel press conference. But many questions remained unanswered during the 26 minutes and 23 seconds of the official session. Vogel stayed to attend individual meetings on television and informal discussions with other journalists, as usual, but Pelinka did not hold out.

This seems to be the way the Lakers are doing business nowadays.

Jeanie Buss has not spoken publicly since the end of the season and was not visible on Monday when she was in the building. LeBron James, who also did not talk about the HBO show that he co-produced, attended the bail and then shot baskets – the picture of journalists who film videos with their phone, while LeBron's layups were both comical and sad. – but then locked the door without a word. Kurt Rambis was present, but he also did not make himself available.

Do they realize that you can not control the message with silence? …

• It should be noted that veteran radio journalist Ted Sobel asked Pelinka what was the best way to appease front-office criticism and added, "And how does transparency come into play?"

Pelinka ignored this part of the question. Perhaps he thought that this subject was a zero victory at this stage. And this was the last request before the end of the session.

• The organizational position seems to be that winning solves everything. Ordinarily it is true.

"In simple terms, the best way to calm the noise is to do like the Lakers, to win and compete for banners," said Pelinka. "The noise will exist if you do not do it."

But it's been six years since the Lakers took part in the playoffs, and a lot of their fans are asking serious questions about the organization's ability to form a championship team.

The counter can say "trust us". But when fans ask why, for reasons of credibility, you'd better not be caught off guard. …

• Vogel, who made the most of a difficult situation on Monday, is perhaps the friendliest character of all this kabuki. He seems sincerely excited to be out there, he has a plan and a philosophy, and he seems insensitive to the idea of ​​joining a franchise that has always thrived in the realm of drama. .