Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson used his Monday night appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to rip the team's decision to hire current coach Mike D'Antoni.
Nearly two seasons into the team's decision to bypass Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson and hire D'Antoni, Johnson told Leno he still thinks the decision was a bad one and D'Antoni's lack of defensive focus in preparing his teams makes him a non championship-caliber coach.
A five-time NBA champion, Johnson also told Leno star guard Kobe Bryant was deserving of the recent lucrative two-year extension he signed with the team, but stressed team owner Jim Buss needs to be ultra-active in landing another superstar level player in summer free agency.
Johnson mentioned perrenial all stars LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony, all potential free agents, as suitable targets for the Lakers, who lost center Dwight Howard to Houston through those same channels just last summer.
Finally, Johnson also told Leno he felt fellow Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman's recent visit to North Korea and his connection with that country's government was more than distasteful.
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