With the Los Angeles Lakers struggling through two of the worst seasons in franchise history over the last couple of years, Magic Johnson doesn't believe Jim Buss in the man to lead L.A. out of the doldrums.
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Buss took over basketball operations after his father and former Lakers owner Jerry Buss passed away in February 2013.
The Lakers finished with a franchise-worst 27-55 record in 2013-14 and are sitting with a 13-39 mark this season, placing them in 14th place in the Western Conference.
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Johnson doesn't believe Buss is the man to help the Lakers turn it around.
"Jim is trying to do it himself and trying to prove to everybody that this was the right decision that [his] dad gave [him] the reins," Johnson said Tuesday, according to ESPN. "He's not consulting anybody that can help him achieve his goals and dreams to win an NBA championship."
With the Lakers on pace to eclipse last year's franchise record number of losses, Johnson believes that Buss needs to turn some of his decision-making over to general manager Mitch Kupchak.
"If Jim would say, 'OK, Mitch, you run the show,' I think it would be a lot better for the Lakers, too. Mitch Kupchak knows what he's doing," Johnson said. "He's great. He's smart. He's hard-working. He's at every practice. I think the fans would feel good [if he ran the team] as well."
Johnson later told Stephen A. Smith's SiriusXM/Mad Dog Sports Radio show that if Buss doesn't have a good summer with signing free agents and the draft, star player Kobe Bryant should threaten not to play in 2015-16.
"And I really believe this: [Kobe] should ... say to Jim and them, 'Look, if you don't sign one of these free agents [this offseason], man, I'm just not going to play next year,'" Johnson said.
Bryant is out for the year for the third straight season, but has vowed to come back rather than retire. Johnson said that if Buss fails in what is the "biggest" summer of his tenure, Bryant should leave the game.
"You almost gotta say that because if you come back with the same level of talent, you're just going to have the same results," Johnson said. "You know, so, look, Kobe, put pressure on Jim to say, 'Look, man, you've got to bring me some talent, some help, so that this can be a great season for the Lakers and a great season for me, being my last season, and then I can retire.'"
Lastly, Johnson, who has been an out-spoken critic of Buss several times -- especially after he hired Mike D'Antoni as head coach instead of Phil Jackson in 2012 -- said that Buss isn't happy with him.
"He's mad at me because I criticize him," Johnson, who is close with Buss' sister Jeanie, said. "Then he's like, 'Magic is trying to get a job with the Lakers. Magic is trying to bring me down.' No, I'm not. I'm telling the truth about the situation and trying to make us better and trying to get us into a winning situation in terms of back to being relevant. So you get mad at me when I tell the truth."
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