LeBron James Claims He Was Stunned By Magic Johnson’s Lakers Departure

LeBron James found out about Magic Johnson’s surprise departure from the Los Angeles Lakers while stretching before a game, and like most of the public, at first did not believe it.

Speaking on his HBO show The Shop, James said he had met with Johnson a few days before his April 9 decision to leave his advisory post to the organization. He had no clue something out of the ordinary was about to happen. James said friend Randy Mims told him while he was stretching before a game, and had to check his phone to confirm.

“Personally for me,” James said, “I came here to be a part of the Lakers organization having a conversation with Magic. So it was just weird for him to be like, ‘Nah, I’m out of here.’ And not even have no like, ‘Hey, ‘Bron, kiss my ass, I’m gone.’”

Johnson was reportedly a key in luring James to the Lakers, meeting with him minutes after the July 1 deadline for free agency negotiations.

Lakers legend Johnson allegedly left because of a power struggle within the organization. Some reports have surfaced that he was accidentally CC’d on some disparaging emails, leading to his decision to depart and go back to being just a multi-millionaire businessman.