Lakers legend Magic Johnson recently said Jayson Tatum didn’t work out for Los Angeles before the 2017 draft because his agent, Jeffrey Wexler, didn’t want him to.
Johnson was the Purple and Gold’s president of basketball operations at the time, and the team drafted him second overall that year.
“[Jayson Tatum’s] The agent doesn’t want him to participate in training [the Lakers]… Because we already have too many forwards,” Magic explained on SiriusXM NBA Radio.
After Magic’s comments, Tatum was asked about the whole situation and said he doesn’t hold a grudge.
“I think I was just frustrated that there was no real interest in the Lakers,” Tatum told reporters on Saturday. Magic explains this. They had too many forwards, that’s what they were thinking. I have nothing against Magic or the Lakers. That was just when I was little. I was about to achieve a lifelong dream, just like I had imagined.
Wexler himself later responded to Johnson’s remarks and explained his perspective on the situation.
“What Magic said was correct, but he said it a little differently,” Wexler said on SiriusXM NBA Radio. . “I mean, everyone knows the draft starts in June and people train for a few months after March Madness ends. Well, Jason worked out with Drew Hanlen for a few months in Los Angeles, The Lakers knew he was in Los Angeles but never called in late June to bring him in for a workout, but by that time, everyone knew they had chosen Lonzo Ball.
“So, when Rob Pelinka called me and asked if they could take Jason out, I said, ‘Well, if you’re not going to take him, why are you taking him out?’ So I said, ‘Let me call Magic and let’s talk about it, so he arranged it a few days later,'” the agent continued.
“The call with Magic, I think it was around June 13th, I said, ‘Magic, everyone knows you’re going to take ‘Lonzo Ball.'” He said, “Yeah, ours The forward position is really heavy and we need a point guard, so that’s probably who we’re going to take,” he said. “But we want to look at everybody. ‘Well, if you’re not going to. Take my guy – he’s been out all summer. He’s in St. Louis now. He is trying out for other teams. When you don’t take him to exercise, I won’t fly him across the country to exercise. That’s how things went down.
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