Magic Johnson Chastises Los Angeles Lakers’ Lack of Effort, LeBron James Apologizes

The almighty Los Angeles Lakers are going through struggles as they were expected to be a better team this season with the acquisition of point guard Russell Westbrook. Less than two years removed from winning the NBA Championship, the LeBron James-led basketball team is failing in terms of expectations from fans and the franchise. This was not lost on Lakers legend and former team president Magic Johnson.

The Hall of Fame great took to Twitter to express his major disappointment with the team and responded as a fan by chastising the team and stating that “we deserve more than a lack of effort and no sense of urgency.”

Although James didn’t speak to reporters after the game, the New York Post reported that Westbrook did.

“Magic’s entitled to his opinion. And he’s not here every day. He’s not around us every day. He’s not aware of what’s going on internally with us and trying to figure things out. But I have no response to that.”

After being blown out by the Nuggets 133-96, we as @Lakers fans can accept being outplayed but we deserve more than a lack of effort and no sense of urgency. Owner @JeanieBuss, you deserve better.

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) January 16, 2022

The latest loss, which gave them a losing streak of three games, had placed the Lakers won-lost record at a dismal 21-22. With this defeat, the team was barely dangling in playoff contention as they sit as the seventh seed in the Western Conference standings.

James, apparently reacting to Johnson’s tweet, responded via Twitter by apologizing and promising to do better.

#LakerNation I apologize and I promise we’ll be better! 👑💜💛

— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 17, 2022

After sending that tweet, the Lakers discontinued their losing streak and posted a victory on Monday when they defeated the Utah Jazz 101-95. The win gives them a record of 22 wins against 22 losses. According to Clutchpoints, James was asked if he had a response to Johnson’s Twitter message the other day and he simply said, “Nah.”