Like West, Magic Ponders His Future in Game

A story has circulated that Magic Johnson has taken too much credit for the Lakers landing Shaquille O’Neal six years ago, and that bothers Johnson.

Jerry West, armed with a wide salary-cap berth that summer, led that recruitment, and Johnson said he would not intentionally suggest otherwise.

“Jerry’s the man,” Johnson said on Thursday afternoon. “I learned from Jerry how to do things. I learned from the master. Just like Mitch [Kupchak] learned from the master.

“I’m mad because those stories are putting Jerry in a bad position to have to defend me, and we’re so close.”

Unusually so, it would seem, because even as West recently has pondered a return to the NBA, Johnson, who will be 43 this summer, finds in him similar competitive urges.

And, like West, Johnson is not certain how to sate them, or if he will at all.

Johnson said he does not want to coach. But he would consider becoming a general manager, and he recently has mulled asking for more responsibility with the Lakers, for whom he is part owner and vice president, perhaps in international scouting.

“I’m not saying I’m going to do it,” he said, “because I may not. It’s a great life I have already.

“Would I do it? Hmmm. Probably not. If it was something like the Knicks or the Lakers, then I would listen. If it never happens, I’m OK. I’m great.

“I’m not chasing anything. What I would do is sit down and talk.”

In the meantime, it appears that West continues to wrestle with the potential of restarting his career. West reportedly telephoned the Golden State Warriors this week to say he is not pursuing a job or an ownership stake there, despite reports to the contrary.

The Contra Costa Times reported that West left a message for public relations director Raymond Ridder, a former Laker employee, saying he was probably not going to work again, and that he was dismayed by the rampant speculation there.

West also spoke to Garry St. Jean, the Warrior general manager, about his intentions.

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TONIGHT

vs. Detroit Pistons, 7:30

Fox Sports Net

Site--Staples Center.

Radio--KLAC (570).

Records--Lakers 47-20, Pistons 40-27.

Record vs. Pistons--1-0.

Update: The Lakers won in Detroit, 121-92, on Jan. 8, when Shaquille O’Neal scored 28 points and Kobe Bryant killed the crowd with a 360-degree dunk. They led by as many as 35 points in the fourth quarter in the Pistons’ first nationally televised game in two years. “We weren’t really there,” Piston Coach Rick Carlisle said afterward. Detroit is 24-10 since, but has lost three straight in Los Angeles and seven in a row in the series. Jerry Stackhouse averages 22 points and Ben Wallace averages 12.4 rebounds and 3.38 blocked shots. Corliss Williamson is an effective sixth man.

Tickets--(800) 462-2849