Magic Johnson Denies Bullying Employees: “That’s Not What I’m About”

Magic Johnson is calling foul on allegations that he was a bully who abused Lakers employees. ESPN recently published an exposé regarding the shifts happening within the Los Angeles Lakers organization that focused on the reported chaos and dysfunction going on behind the scenes. Writer Baxter Homes claims to have had contact with anonymous staff members who shared that Johnson would use fear and intimidation with employees. They said the former president of the Lakers organization “berated staffers, including (Luke) Walton and created an in-house culture that many current and former longtime staffers said marginalized their colleagues, inspired fear and led to feelings of anxiety severe enough that at least two staffers suffered panic attacks.”

Mere hours after the ESPN article went public, Johnson visited SportsCenter to deny the allegations, saying that if any such behavior occurred, Lakers owner Jeanie Buss wouldn’t have put up with it. “I’ve never sat in an HR office in 35 years,” Johnson said. “Two years with the Lakers, no HR appearance. Do you think Jeanie Buss would allow me to abuse the employees? If that was the case, she would’ve called me in.”

He also mentioned that the Lakers’ attorneys wouldn’t have spoken with him, as well. “Joe McCormick would have called me in, the lawyer for the Lakers, as well as Dan, the other lawyer,” Johnson continued. “It never happened. I’m a person who brings everybody together [to] uplift the employees. I never abused an employee and I never will. That’s not what I’m about.”