Magic Johnson weighs in on Lakers' head-coaching search

Magic Johnson has typically been very forthright with his opinions on the Lakers. Soon after his beloved team was bounced out of the first round by the Nuggets, Johnson tweeted that the Nikola Jokic-led team was "mentally and physically tougher" than L.A. He also called out the Lakers for digging themselves a hole by finishing the regular season in a play-in spot.

As for the Lakers' front-office decisions, Johnson has refused to be as outspoken. During the franchise's head-coaching search in 2022, Johnson said he'd stand by whatever decision Phil Jackson — consulted by the Lakers to help find Frank Vogel's successor — and Rob Pelinka make, which he did. Soon after Darvin Ham was announced as the head coach, Johnson congratulated him via social media. 

Less than two years later, the Lakers find themselves in the same position, this time needing to find a successor to Ham. On Tuesday, Johnson was asked if he had a preferred candidate for the job. 

"I couldn't tell ya," Johnson told TMZ Sports about the vacancy. "It's up to the Lakers and Jeanie [Buss] and Rob Pelinka. I hope we get a good one, though."

When asked if he'd consider returning to the Lakers coaching seat — a job he undertook for 16 games in the 1993-94 season — Johnson responded emphatically with "No, no, no, no, no!"

According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin, the Lakers will start interviewing candidates in the coming days, with the initial list expected to include assistant candidates such as Miami's Chris Quinn and New Orleans' James Borrego. The Lakers are reportedly doing their due diligence on ESPN analyst JJ Redick, earmarked as one of the candidates. 

In 2022, the Lakers interviewed the likes of Kenny Atkinson, Terry Stotts, Adrian Griffin, Charles Lee and Mark Jackson before finalizing on Ham. Atkinson and Stotts have once again been linked with the Lakers job. Lee, too, was viewed as a viable candidate before he took on the Hornets job.