Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 17, 1994                   TAG: 9404170068
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: INGLEWOOD, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

AS A PLAYER, MAGIC JOHNSON ENJOYED THE GIVE

The former NBA All-Star and current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers cited a lack of discipline and enthusiasm among players when he announced his 16-game stint on the sidelines would end April 24.

"Do I want guys to be upset and be mad when they lose? Yes," he said Friday night. "I was expecting them to give 100 percent, and I was expecting them to learn from every game why we lost or why we won."

Lately, the Lakers have been losing, dropping five in a row after winning five of the first six Johnson coached.

Friday night's 105-100 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers mathematically eliminated the Lakers from playoff contention after 17 consecutive appearances. Wednesday's 117-88 rout at the hands of Phoenix was embarrassing.

Johnson said that's part of the reason he is quitting.

"All I know is winning," he said. "That's all I want to know."

Something Johnson hadn't counted on was the team's lack of discipline. Whipping the Lakers into shape required him to play drill sergeant. Johnson insisted the players wear jackets and ties while traveling, and be on time for practice.

"I found out a lot about this team, a lot about individuals," he said. "And you can see why we are where we are."

Johnson never laid the ultimate burden on his players by comparing them to the Lakers of the 1980s, when he led them to five NBA championships.

"They don't want to think about the '80s. They call themselves the '90s Lakers," he said.

But he often used the old days as an example of what could be accomplished. He said guaranteed contracts worth millions of dollars have spoiled players to the extent that the threat of reduced playing time or fines no longer means much.

"When somebody says something to you [as a player], you can either take it or leave it. You don't have to respond and they know that," Johnson said. "Things like coming to practice on time and all that, they don't care."

"Back when I was playing, if you were late those other 11 guys would just rag on you until you couldn't be late anymore. We understood how to help each other. It was that sense of family.

"Now you've got a lot of individuals. Everybody cares about me, I, I, I. Where's my minutes? Where's my shots? What's wrong with my game? There's a lot of that now and I don't like that side of it," he said.

Johnson never tried to hide his emotions, and the players sensed his disappointment.

"He agonizes over losing," said Kurt Rambis, another holdover from the title days. "When he was a player, he was in control. As a coach, you don't have that kind of control and that frustration is really hard to deal with. He doesn't have to deal with it, so why should he?"

Johnson agreed to take over as a favor to owner Jerry Buss when Randy Pfund was fired. Johnson never committed beyond this season, and prefers pursuing ownership of an NBA team and other business interests.

"It's never been my dream to coach. I want to own, I want to be a businessman," he said. "That's been my dream. You've got to chase your dream. To me, that's more important than anything else."

As a coach, Johnson inherited an out-of-shape team with rookies lacking basic skills.

"If you're an NBA player, you're supposed to know how to do certain things," he said. "We can't play the type of game I want because we're not in shape to play that pressure all the time, get up on somebody, then run.

"George [Lynch] can't shoot a jump shot. Nick [Van Exel] can hit the 3s, but he can't hit anything from the 3-point line to the free-throw line, so you've got to work on that."

James Worthy excelled in the low post when Johnson played, but Pfund converted him to an outside shooter.

Incredulous at the sight of Worthy attempting jumpers, Johnson immediately ordered him to return to the paint.

"I thought I was being phased out a little bit for the younger players," Worthy said. "He challenged me to come back and create some things. It was nice for me."

Vlade Divac also flourished under renewed scrutiny. As a teammate, Johnson regularly chewed out Divac for a lack of effort. Johnson found himself doing the same thing as coach.

"He brought something about professionalism, to play hard every night, to do the best on the floor," Divac said. "Working with him was fun and we learned."

Johnson's expectations for his players are high. He wants them to love the game and play hard.

"I didn't expect them to play like me," he said. "I didn't expect them to be anything other than themselves."

Keywords:
BASEBALL