Hapless Lakers try Magic potion

That the Los Angeles Lakers could use a little Magic is undeniable.

The most consistently strong franchise in the National Basketball Association over the past 45 years — sorry about that, Boston Celtics — the long lads from LaLa Land have won 11 NBA championships in that span of time. The Celtics and Chicago Bulls are second with six each. The San Antonio Spurs have won five total during those years, all since 1999.

But the Lakers haven’t won a crown since 2010, which keeps them one behind the Celtics (sorry about that, Laker Nation) in total championships, trailing 17-16.

To make that much more painful for the Purple and Gold, the franchise not only is headed for its fourth straight losing season, but this year’s current mark of 19-39 is all but guaranteed to lead to a fourth straight season of 50 or more losses.

And that has fueled a growing belief that the NBA’s second most valuable franchise — amazingly, the equally moribund New York Knicks supposedly are worth $200 million or so more than the Lakers’ $3 billion — could take another two or three years to return to the playoffs and perhaps five or more years to become a serious title contender.

So what did team president and part owner Jeanie Buss — daughter of the late longtime Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss — do Tuesday?

Like anyone growing up in the shadow of Disney’s Magic Kingdom, she turned to the Lakers’ personal potion — Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, creator of the franchise’s famed “Showtime” years — to straighten things out.

In one of those bloodless coups that Hollywood loves, Johnson ousted longtime general manager Mitch Kupchak and Jeanie’s brother Jim, who had been in charge of basketball operations, mere hours after being named president of basketball ops.

“Since 1979, I’ve been a part of Laker Nation,” Johnson said in a released statement. “And I’m passionate about this organization. I will work tirelessly to return our Los Angeles Lakers to NBA champions.”

Critics might point to Johnson’s brief time as the Lakers coach as a concern going forward. After winning five of his first six games after taking over near the close of the 199394 season, Johnson lost his last 10 and called it quits.

Beyond that, after telling the media at the start of that experiment, “I’ve always had the desire (to coach) in the back of mind,” Magic said after the season that it had never been a dream of his to coach.

Either way, he’s inheriting a nightmare of major proportions this time around.

Then again, he’s Magic Johnson, who’s done such a wonderful job with his life after basketball that Forbes ranked him No. 10 last year among the highest-paid retired athletes, his earnings topping $18 million.

Whatever else one says about the Michigan State product, laziness never has been attached to him. Merely look at a couple of key stats that could only be improved through hard work over the course of his career.

After twice hitting 76 percent of his free throws over his first three seasons in the pros, Johnson never hit less than 80 percent thereafter, twice hitting 91 percent or better and never falling below 84 percent over his final eight seasons.

As for 3-pointers, while he never rose above 23 percent in his first nine seasons — and didn’t attempt a single triple during the 1982-83 season — he never hit less than 31 percent in his final four seasons and twice hit more than 38 percent over his final three years.

Never being satisfied with success is what makes football coaches such as Bill Belichick and Nick Saban so successful, and a similar work ethic should help Johnson.

Again, consider the man’s drive to succeed. A child of Lansing, Mich., the picture most perfect of Johnson’s mindset and perspective comes when one considers his answer regarding what he might have been had he not made it as a basketball star.

For so many young people fortunate enough to blessed with one such extraordinary talent, their perception is they might have earned such riches as an entertainer or in another sport.

Said Johnson once upon a time: “I probably would have wound up working on an auto assembly line, like a lot of my friends and relatives.”

But when it came time to leave the game, in part because of his HIV positive diagnosis in 1991, Johnson became a massive business success, especially in urban Los Angeles through Starbucks and Burger King franchises, movie theaters and a catering company that has served Blue Cross Blue Shield right here in Chattanooga.

So when he says, as he did on Tuesday, “I will do everything I can to build a winning culture on and off the court,” Laker Nation should, at least for now, take him at his word, however difficult his task appears at the moment.

Of course, L.A. being L.A., there was this tweet from Jeanie Buss early Tuesday evening: “We’re not trying to turn back the clock. This is about the future.”

Or as Hollywood surely will dub it if Magic succeeds: “Back to the Future — Lakers 2.0.”

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com