Los Angeles Lakers 2019: Team Lost Last Game of the Season in the Wake of Magic Johnson Stepping Down

The Los Angeles Lakers had quite a rough day after suffering a heartbreaking loss to the Portland Trailblazers, ending their season on a disappointing tune of 37-45. The match was even throughout the game with the lead changing hands several times.

But on the closing seconds of the fourth, Maurice Harkless let fly a corner three that closed the game 101-104. To make matters worse, the loss came in the wake of Magic Johnson stepping down as President of Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers, Yahoo Sports reported.

During the impromptu press conference, Johnson revealed that Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss didn’t know about his decision. After learning of the fact, Buss tweeted that she’s thankful for Johnson’s involvement with the organization for the past two years.

Johnson has been placed in the position back in 2017 and was ecstatic for his new role. At the time, he said that if the Los Angeles Lakers aren’t in great shape after two seasons, then he’s going to step down. Johnson kept his word as the team has now missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year even though Lebron James has been added to their roster.

At first, the Los Angeles Lakers was doing well, managing to climb up to the fourth seed in the Western Conference back in December following their victory against the Golden State Warriors. But that win proved detrimental for the team in the long run as James got sidelined during the match.

With their best player injured, the remaining players of the Los Angeles Lakers proved insufficient to carry the load, going 6-11 without the superstar. As for who will replace Johnson, there’s still no news regarding this front.

Apart from Johnson, however, Luke Walton is also expected to be fired from the team. In fact, Buss gave Johnson permission to fire Walton prior to the surprise announcement. Tyronn Lue, Monty Williams, and Mark Jackson are among the candidates touted to replace the current Lakers coach.