Nice try, David Ortiz, but Magic Johnson's not going to talk about LeBron
This is a pretty good time to be Magic Johnson. The Los Angeles Lakers, the team for which he once starred and that he now runs as president of basketball operations, has gotten off to a 2-2 start with a pretty exciting brand of play led by rookie point guard Lonzo Ball. On top of that, the Los Angeles Dodgers, of which Johnson remains a part-owner, are in the World Series for the first time since 1988.
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In his capacity as Gregarious And Fun Front-Facing Dodgers Representative, Magic joined the gang on FOX’s broadcast before Game 2 of the World Series on Wednesday. (Had he joined the postgame show, one suspects he wouldn’t have been so effervescent.) After a several-minute interview featuring many giant-sized laughs offered by Magic, Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz, along with brief interruptions to discuss stuff like Dave Roberts’ managing and Yasiel Puig’s awesomeness, Ortiz attempted to buttonhole the Hall of Famer on a much-discussed personnel move that Johnson and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka might have their sights set on pursuing next summer:
“This is between you and me,” Ortiz said, leaning in close to Johnson. “Nobody’s watching. Nobody needs to know. What is it going to take to bring LeBron to the Lakers?”
Cue great heaping peals of laughter.
“I’ll pay the fine!” Ortiz yelled. “I’ll pay the fine!”
“You know what? We’re trying to build a championship team with the Lakers,” Johnson said. “And hopefully, next summer, we’ll be in line to sign free agents. How about that?”
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More laughter, and a pretty remarkable high-five/hand-hold between Magic and A-Rod.
“That’s how you do it!” Magic said.
Let it never be said that Magic does not learn from his experiences discussing potential acquisitions of players under contract to other teams during interviews on national television. A half-a-mil might be just a drop in the bucket to the likes of the Lakers, but clearly it was enough to remind our pal Earvin to tread lightly when the world’s watching.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
