Los Angeles Lakers president Magic Johnson to hold crisis talks with players
Friday 8 February 2019 20:44, UK
Los Angeles Lakers president Magic Johnson is to hold a meeting with players following the failed attempt to trade some of them for New Orleans star Anthony Davis.
The Lakers offered two first-round draft picks to the Pelicans, along with players Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma and Ivica Zubac.
Zubac and Michael Beasley were subsequently traded on Thursday to the Los Angeles Clippers for forward Mike Muscala.
The Lakers team meeting is scheduled to be held this weekend in Philadelphia according to reports in the Los Angeles Times.
Johnson's goal at the meeting will be to motivate the Lakers to make a push toward the play-offs with 27 games left in the regular season.
The 59-year-old is expected to stress to the players that the pursuit of Davis was typical NBA business and that the Lakers' main goal is to win the championship.
Johnson will also tell the players they need to commit to being professionals and invite them to say what their thoughts are so that the team can move on following the chaos of the past week.
The Lakers (28-27) are in 10th place in the NBA Western Conference and 1.5 games behind the Clippers for the final play-off spot in the conference.
