Getty Image / Derek White
As the Los Angeles Lakers have struggled over the past year and a half, the team’s inability to bring in reinforcements for LeBron James has become a popular topic of discussion.
Early on in LeBron’s time with the team, that wasn’t an issue.
The team made a mega deal to land Anthony Davis. That move helped the Lakers win a ring a few seasons ago.
Now Magic Johnson has revealed that when he was recruiting LeBron, he actually promised that he would bring in a different star. In an appearance on an episode of “All the Smoke“, Magic revealed that he had actually promised LeBron that he would sign Kawhi Leonard.
I said, ‘These are the moves that I’m going to make after I sign you. I’m gonna go after…’ At that time, I thought it was going to be Kawhi because he was the next free agent the next year,” Johnson said. “Nobody knew that Anthony Davis was gonna be available for trade, so I said, ‘I’mma get you, then I’mma get Kawhi.’
Kawhi didn’t become a free agent until a year after LeBron James signed with the Lakers. By then, Magic Johnson was no longer in his role with the Lakers and the team didn’t sign Kawhi.
According to Magic, he’d have gotten a deal done with Kawhi if he was still with the Lakers.
I would’ve had Kawhi. When I come in to close the deal, it’s done. Listen, man, I do my homework, my research. So when I get you in that room, I already know what you want and I’mma just lay it out to you. And so I knew what LeBron wanted, I laid it out to him. He bought into it. I would’ve known what Kawhi wanted and I would’ve laid it out to him as well.
That could have had a major impact on how the last few years in the league played out with the Lakers winning a ring with Anthony Davis and Kawhi struggling to stay on the court.
However, landing Kawhi Leonard would have looked like a move that would set the Lakers up to dominate for years at the time.
