“We’re Going to Give You a Whooping”: While Coaching Lakers, Magic Johnson Destroyed Young Players With a Team of ‘Old Guys’

In March 1994, owner fired head coach Randy Pfund after he led the team to a 21 47 record and approached to take over until the end of the season. Johnson had been retired from the NBA since November 1991 and was itching to get back. So, after discussing it deeply with his wife, Cookie, he took the job.

Advertisement The Lakers started 5 1 under Johnson’s tutelage but lost their next five games, prompting the Lakers icon to announce he wouldn’t continue as the coach beyond that season. The team lost four more games, and before their final game of the season against the Utah Jazz, Johnson decided to teach the team a lesson.

In the book , author Jackie MacMullan wrote: Advertisement Johnson’s team won the first game 15 11 and the second game 15 8. Per MacMullan, the Lakers icon’s team was schooling the opposition so hard, they stopped keeping score in the third game. Johnson was approximately 35 years old in 1994, well past his prime, and completely lacking in basketball reps at the time.

So, the fact that he could take a bunch of guys that were in and around his age, and beat the pants off a bunch of Lakers players in their primes is very impressive. That said, it also exemplifies the sorry state that the LA franchise was in at the time. Unfortunately, while this story is a good one, Johnson’s drubbing of the team did not have the desired effect, as the Lakers lost their final game under his rein as well.

After this contest was over, Johnson admitted he was “relieved” that his tenure as head coach had come to its end. Magic Johnson knew the Lakers were in trouble before his first game in charge Magic Johnson diagnosed the Lakers’ problem before his first practice after taking over as the head coach.

He arrived at the team’s practice facility an hour and 30 minutes early and was surprised to see none of the players were around. They arrived during the scheduled time or even later and left as soon as practice ended. The Lakers players’ habits prompted Johnson to tell assistant coach Bill Berkta: Advertisement It did work initially, with the Lakers going 5 1.

However, once they started skidding, Johnson couldn’t stop it. Johnson tried his absolute best to help the team, even asking point guard to report earlier so they could work on his game. He refused saying he had an appointment, and Johnson gave up without a retort. After seeing them firsthand, the Lakers icon had no interest in trying to fix the issues.

11 games into his tenure, he announced he’d leave at the end of the year, and he did. Johnson has never coached another team, and it’s unlikely he’ll take that responsibility ever again. Advertisement.