Cuz Magic Say So

An interesting little tidbit - Magic was interviewed re the current Kobe drama annd revealed he was in the same situation 25 years ago...

The Lakers have had off-and-on talks with Indiana about Jermaine O'Neal, who expressed his unhappiness with the Pacers during the off-season. But with teams curious to see how they start out, there has not been any movement in those discussions.Johnson has some experience in this area. He asked to be traded in November 1981. Almost the entire Lakers team had revolted against then-coach Paul Westhead when Johnson said, "I've got to go. . . . I haven't been happy all season. . . . I'm going to talk to the man tomorrow and see if a trade will happen."That "man" was Buss. Westhead was fired the next day.Johnson, like Bryant, wanted to go to Chicago or maybe even New York, but he found fault with Bryant's desire to go to the Bulls. "Chicago is one of the first teams he said he'd want to be traded to, but what we have to understand, even if he does go to Chicago, he's not going to be in a better situation because we're going to take all their best players and he's going to end up being in the same situation," Johnson said. "Chicago with Kobe, with the guys they will have left after the Lakers take what they want, [is] not going to beat the other top teams in the East."