Magic Johnson, on behalf of the Los Angeles Lakers, spoke out regarding the franchise passing up on Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum before the 2017 NBA Draft.
Johnson claimed that Tatum was invited to a workout and that Los Angeles was too “forward heavy” with players such as Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle and Larry Nance Jr. crowding up the roster. Tatum’s agent, Jeff Wechsler, acknowledged the truth within Johnson’s retelling of the past but claims some context was still missing.
“Magic’s correct in what he said, but the way it was presented was a little different,” Wechsler told SiriusXM NBA Radio on Tuesday. “And everyone knows that the draft starts in June and guys finish at the end of March Madness and they work out for months. Well, Jayson worked out in L.A. for months training with Drew Hanlen there and the Lakers knew that he was in L.A. and never called, and in late June they called and wanted to bring him in for a workout. But by that time, everyone knew that they were taking Lonzo Ball.”
Wechsler added: “(I told Johnson), ‘Well, if you’re not gonna take my guy, he’s been out there all summer, he’s now in St. Louis, he’s working out for other teams. I’m not gonna fly him back across the country for a workout when you guys aren’t gonna take him. And that’s how it went down.”
Tatum had just wrapped up his freshman season at Duke and the draft lottery granted the Celtics, Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers the first, second and third picks, respectively. Boston traded down from No. 1 to No. 3, resulting in Markelle Fultz going first overall to Philadelphia, Ball going second to Los Angeles and Tatum going third to the Celtics. Yet, that wasn’t the vision that the then-19-year-old Tatum had at the time.
During a podcast appearance alongside former Boston teammate Jeff Teague, Tatum explained how looking up to Kobe Bryant throughout his childhood influenced him to someday sport a Lakers jersey.
“For me, I grew up a Kobe fan. Like, I always wanted to play for the Lakers,” Tatum said on the “Club 520” podcast in November. “So for them to have the No. 2 pick and it was like it wasn’t even a thought that I was going to get drafted, that was kind of devastating so I never worked out for the Lakers. They never came to watch me work out.”
Tatum’s trainer, Hanlen, also backed up Wechsler’s side of the story.
“I’m not gonna overspeak, but (Johnson’s story isn’t true),” Hanlen told the “First to the Floor” podcast. “Jayson grew up a Kobe fan. We’re working out in Los Angeles. The only team that didn’t go visit him in the top four was Los Angeles so there wasn’t interest there. … The Kobe connection and it made so much sense but what Magic said, that was not 100% accurate. I just remember being in those conversations and the truth was they did at the end kind of reach out and say like, ‘Hey, we’d love to come and stop by.'”
The ping-pong balls fell in favor of the Celtics and Tatum on lottery night as the 26-year-old has grown to become a five-time All-Star, NBA champion, and an all-time Boston great in just eight years in the league. Tatum was also rewarded with a record-large $315 million supermax extension this past offseason, the largest ever signed in NBA history.
Los Angeles, on the other hand, traded Ball in 2019 as part of its blockbuster deal for Anthony Davis — and could use Tatum’s services right about now, too.
