Magic Johnson's Departure From Lakers 'Inevitable'

Aug 17 10:18a by Evan Dunlap

Even if Magic Johnson doesn’t join a group of investors to buy the Detroit Pistons, like he expressed an interest in doing last week, there will come a day when he leaves his partial ownership stake in the Lakers behind and tries to take on a larger role with a new team.

This report comes from the Laker legend himself, via NBA.com’s Scott Howard-Cooper. An excerpt from Magic:

“I’ll still be a Laker forever,” Johnson said. “If there’s a chance for me to go run a team, if I felt that’s what I wanted to do, would I take it? Yeah, if the right situation came. I know one day that’s gonna probably happen. I love being with Dr. Buss and the Buss family and working with them, but I know one day something is going to happen. I can definitely see me not being with the Lakers, yeah.”

Johnson, 51, has owned a partial stake in the Lakers since 1994. After 16 years, he’s clearly eager to move on.