In March 1994, Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss fired head coach Randy Pfund after he led the team to a 21-47 record and approached Magic Johnson to take over until the end of the season. Johnson had been retired from the NBA since November 1991 and was itching to get back. So, after discussing it deeply with his wife, Cookie, he took the job.
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The Lakers started 5-1 under Johnson’s tutelage but lost their next five games, prompting the Lakers icon to announce he wouldn’t continue as the coach beyond that season. The team lost four more games, and before their final game of the season against the Utah Jazz, Johnson decided to teach the team a lesson. In the book When The Game Was Ours, author Jackie MacMullan wrote:
“Before the team’s last practice of the year, Magic grabbed [Kurt] Rambis, [James] Worthy, and assistant coaches Larry Drew and [Michael] Cooper and told them to start stretching. He laced up his sneakers and called in his team. ‘I’m going to prove a point today,’ Magic said. ‘I’m going to prove to you that you don’t know how to play this game. I’m going to take all these old guys, and we’re going to give you a whooping.'”
Johnson’s team won the first game 15-11 and the second game 15-8. Per MacMullan, the Lakers icon’s team was schooling the opposition so hard, they stopped keeping score in the third game.
Johnson was approximately 35 years old in 1994, well past his prime, and completely lacking in basketball reps at the time. So, the fact that he could take a bunch of guys that were in and around his age, and beat the pants off a bunch of Lakers players in their primes is very impressive. That said, it also exemplifies the sorry state that the LA franchise was in at the time.
Unfortunately, while this story is a good one, Johnson’s drubbing of the team did not have the desired effect, as the Lakers lost their final game under his rein as well. After this contest was over, Johnson admitted he was “relieved” that his tenure as head coach had come to its end.
Magic Johnson knew the Lakers were in trouble before his first game in charge
Magic Johnson diagnosed the Lakers’ problem before his first practice after taking over as the head coach. He arrived at the team’s practice facility an hour and 30 minutes early and was surprised to see none of the players were around. They arrived during the scheduled time or even later and left as soon as practice ended. The Lakers players’ habits prompted Johnson to tell assistant coach Bill Berkta:
“This isn’t going to work. We used to come an hour and a half before. We used to stay an hour afterward. Don’t these guys realize they need to do that to get better?”
It did work initially, with the Lakers going 5-1. However, once they started skidding, Johnson couldn’t stop it. Johnson tried his absolute best to help the team, even asking point guard Nick Van Exel to report earlier so they could work on his game. He refused saying he had an appointment, and Johnson gave up without a retort.
After seeing them firsthand, the Lakers icon had no interest in trying to fix the issues. 11 games into his tenure, he announced he’d leave at the end of the year, and he did. Johnson has never coached another team, and it’s unlikely he’ll take that responsibility ever again.
