Magic Says Buss, West Will Reach an Accord

Magic Johnson on Saturday became the first person associated with the Lakers or close to Jerry West to say for the record that West’s planned resignation centers on a disagreement over money, even as the executive vice president denies it is the motivating factor.

“He deserves the money, he deserves to be paid,” Johnson, a part owner, said at the Delta Center before Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. “With all of these guys running [around the league] who haven’t proven anything making all this money, that’s a disgrace. It really is. This guy has a proven track record.

“Jerry is an emotional guy. He’s saying that [stuff] because he loves the organization. Thirty-something years. We want to put him in a coffin in the Forum--not any time soon, but if he leaves here it will be soon.”

Johnson laughed.

“I really feel in my heart he’ll be here,” he said. “We all know that the Lakers, that’s not their style. Look at all of us: Kurt Rambis, Larry Drew, Jerry West, Mitch Kupchak. Michael Cooper was here. We’re not an [organization] of change too much. I think that him and Dr. [Jerry] Buss will work that out.”

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The last time the Lakers had been beaten as bad as Saturday?

“I remember,” Kupchak, a player then and the general manager now, said without hesitation. “Sure I remember. May 1985. The first game of the Boston Celtic series.”

The Memorial Day Massacre.

May 27, 1985, a 148-114 loss at Boston Garden in Game 1 of the finals, the worst defeat in Laker playoff history before Saturday’s 112-77 setback against the Utah Jazz, and arguably the worst defeat in franchise history at any time of the season. It was impossible not to be reminded of that after the events at the Delta Center.

“It’s an easy thing to look at and say, ‘This is what happened before,’ ” said Rambis, an assistant coach who played for the Lakers then. “But it’s a different era and a different time. That team in ’85 had a lot of playoff experience and this one does not.”

Said Kobe Bryant, 6 years old at the time: “We came in here at halftime and everyone was talking about the Boston Massacre. But this is only one game and we’re just going to have to forget about it. It’s a long series and we just have to move on.”

Trust that the postscript will also be mentioned:

The Lakers came back to not only win the series, but to win it for the first time at Boston Garden.