Magic Johnson isn't so much upset about the record as he is:
Luke taking "positionless basketball" so far to the points where the Lakers are getting outrebounded on both ends to the tune of 20 rebounds or more
When this is happening he just stands there on the sideline looking shocked as opposed to putting Javale back in, putting Williams in, calling a timeout, doing or saying ANYTHING like how about "Hey Mr. Lebron, think you can try harder?" no instead he sort of just stands there in shocked it's happening
He's too scared to get on LeBron's case to try harder defensively cause he's Soft as Charmin. Everyone knows that Magic will drop Luke before LeBron. Of course you're not gonna yell at him Larry Brown style or anything like that. That's not what anyone wants thats not what anyone is expected. Just calmly tell him, Hey, Bron, that guy blew right by you, Hey, Bron, think we can get 12+ rebounds today, Hey, Bron, think we can get 2 blocks today? it's not [expletive]ing hard dude, Bron doesn't mind a little accountability, and if he really won't do it even when being asked that's the time to ask Magic for help
Poor offensive sets. For someone who knows the Triangle as well as he does, for someone that came from Golden State's system, these backcourt offensive sets are primitive and puzzling. [expletive] like, Kuzma and Ingram not cutting all the way through, and looking like they are confused as what to do
STILL not having his rotations down, not playing his best 5 solidly for long periods of time (up until the Dallas game where Magic finally laid down the law and told him to start producing wins now or else)
And there's a lot more. You guys are the experts, you list them all.
Magic has this big ol jovial smile on his face all the time, but dont get that [expletive] twisted. Magic is $500 million. Magic is corporate America. Luke has had YEARS of losing records with the Lakers, Magic has been patient, this is not him having unrealistic expectations. He was plenty patient with Luke since he became President of basketball operations. With this roster in place, the Lakers should not be doing this bad.
Is a President of Basketball Operations not allowed to hold his head coach accountable?
What the [expletive] did Luke think or hope was going to happen? That with all the corporate sponsors behind the Lakers, with all the money Laker fans were paying just to be able to watch them in exclusively on Spectrum and in the Staples Center (against rising ticket prices) that losses were going to pile up and he was going to do nothing about it?
That's not how Magic became rich. That's not how he turned around the Dodgers. That's not how you run a business or a franchise. The normal thing to do, the right thing to do, is hold people accountable, and Luke hasn't been cutting it for YEARS! It is more glaring now that they have enough talent on this roster. Nobody, really, was expecting a deep playoff run to happen this year, but the Lakers, no matter what is going on, should ALWAYS be competitive, and Luke Walton has not been doing his job in that regards.
So Luke, coach every [expletive]ing game with a sense of playoff urgency like your very job depends on it. Call timeouts when its needed, make the right adjustments, and get on the Lakers case to grab rebounds, make defensive rotations, and closeout. And to be fair to them YOU need to be the one telling them when that needs to happen!!!!!!!!!!