Magic Johnson slaps Lakers with harsh warning about big ‘problem’ in future

On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers’ 2023-24 season officially came to a brutal ends with a 108-106 road loss at the hands of the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 of their first round series, officially concluding what had been a back and forth affair that consistently saw the Nuggets take over close games down the stretch. That script was once again followed to a tee on Monday, as the Lakers and Nuggets both jockeyed for position late in what was a tightly contested game throughout, but ultimately, it was another game winner from Jamal Murray–exactly one week after he hit his first game winner of the series–that sent the Lakers on their way to Cancun for the second straight year at the hands of the Nuggets.

The loss officially begins what figures to be a highly important offseason for the future direction of a franchise that now finds itself at somewhat of a crossroads with LeBron James approaching the age of 40 years old.

One person who thinks the Lakers need to kick things into high gear this summer in order to stay competitive in an ultra-talented Western Conference is none other than franchise legend Magic Johnson, who recently took to his own account on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter, to give the Purple and Gold brass (of which he used to be a part) his two cents.

“Laker Nation, we have a problem. All the good teams in the West are young and talented: the Nuggets, the Timberwolves, the Thunder, and the Mavs. And the BIGGEST elephant in the room is the Spurs, who with Victor Wembanyama, will definitely be a playoff team next season. For the Lakers to compete with all these teams, the roster MUST improve,” wrote Johnson.

Indeed, the current Western Conference playoff picture is arguably as talented as it has been since the days of the early 2010s, when often, a team needed to win 50 games just to have even a chance of making the postseason.

Where do the Lakers go from here?