Magic Johnson Congratulates Knicks, Brags About Drafting Josh Hart

Johnson’s tenure as president of basketball operations for the Lakers was an up-and-down one, but one of his best moves unquestionably was drafting Hart 30th overall out of Villanova.

Unfortunately, the Lakers needed to trade Hart just two years later as part of their package for Anthony Davis, but since then he has carved out an exceptional career as one of the best role players in the NBA. Players like Hart raise your ceiling if you’re looking to compete for a championship, and the Lakers will be looking for those type of pieces as they try to surround Luka Doncic with more talent this summer to compete.

LeBron James praises former Lakers teammate Josh Hart

LeBron James played with Hart on the Lakers for one season, and he recently gave the Knicks wing a lot of praise for his play this postseason.

“You got the wild card in Josh Hart, he’s like a wild card, he’s continued to get better and better,” James said on the latest episode of his Mind the Game podcast. “I was with him when he was young. I had the young Lake Show with him and Bi, and Lonzo, and Caruso, Zubac, I had the young guys. You just see Josh Hart continue to get better and better and better and he’s one of those few guys in our league that makes an impact and it doesn’t always have to be scoring.

“It’s the Draymond Green role where he gets you eight points, but it’s 12 rebounds. It’s seven assists. It’s diving for loose ball, the stuff that doesn’t show up in the box scores. It’s that competitive will, and if you disrespect him he can obviously make shots as well.”