Lakers legend Magic Johnson recently said that Jayson Tatum didn’t work out for LA before the 2017 Draft because his agent Jeffrey Wechsler didn’t want him.
Johnson was the basketball president of the purple and gold at the time and the franchise had the No. 2 pick that year.
“[Jayson Tatum’s] the agent did not want him to work for him [the Lakers]… because we already have a lot of great players,” Magic explained on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
After Magic’s comments, Tatum was asked about the whole situation and said he was not angry.
“I think I was upset at the time that there wasn’t, I guess, real interest,” Tatum told reporters on Saturday. “From my point of view, I grew up a big fan of Kobe (Bryant), who wanted to play for the Lakers. Magic explained. There were so many forwards and that was their thought process at the time. It wasn’t like I hated Magic or the Lakers. It was like a kid. I was close to achieving it. a long time dream, the way I thought it would be.”
Wechsler also responded to Johnson’s comments and explained his side of the situation.
“Magic is right in what he said, but the way he presented it was a little different,” Wechsler said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. . “I mean, everybody knows that the draft starts in June, and guys finish the end of March Madness, and they work for months. However, Jayson worked out in LA for months training with Drew Hanlen there, and the Lakers knew he was in LA and didn’t call. Then in late June, they called and wanted to bring him to practice. But by then, everyone knew they were taking Lonzo Ball.
“So when Rob Pelinka called me and asked if they could help Jayson, I said ‘Well, if you’re not going to take him, why are you working for him?’ So I said, ‘Give me a call about Magic, and we’ll talk about it.’ So he stopped that after a few days,” continued the agent.
“I got on the phone with Magic, I think it was June 13th, and I said, ‘Magic, everybody knows you’re taking’ Lonzo Ball.’ He says, ‘Yeah, we’re really heavy at the front position, and we need to take a point guard, and maybe that’s what we’re going to take.’ He says, ‘But we’d like to watch everybody.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, if you’re not going to take my boy – he’s been out all summer. He is now in St. Louis. He works for other groups. I’m not going to send him back across the country to train while you guys don’t take him.’ That’s how it went down.”
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