The Los Angeles Lakers are gearing up for a massive overhaul this summer, after being bought by Mark Walter and Co. from the Buss family last year in October. With Walter owning both the Lakers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, that connection is merging the two in intriguing ways. And one man who has a connection with both the franchises is Hall of Famer Magic Johnson. But his reunion with the team could be a little complicated.

Now, Johnson has clear ties with the Purple & Gold and is also a minority owner of the MLB franchise alongside Walter. And considering that Johnson is rather a superfan of the Lakers for obvious reasons, he would be around a lot, and that would mean him having to interact with general manager Rob Pelinka. That’s something which might not be ideal for either of the two, given their previous history.

The former Lakers star did say that “we’ve (Pelinka and Johnson) mended differences” during his recent appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. Yet, even then, he would not be going out, handing advice to the Lakers GM until specifically asked to do so.

“No, I’m not going to advise him on unless he asks me my opinion on something,” he further said. “But other than that, you know, Rob (Pelinka) will answer straight to Mark (Walter). Just like Lon Rosen, who just got the president’s job, he’ll answer straight to Mark. If he asked me a question, (I would answer).”

The two individuals go way back and were colleagues when Magic Johnson served as the Lakers’ president of basketball operations from 2017 to 2019, playing a huge role in the signing of LeBron James. Shortly after, he notoriously stepped down from the position and went to ESPN’s First Take, thanking the team governor, Jeanie Buss, but describing Pelinka as “backstabbing.”

Nonetheless, that was a long time ago, and since then, both have seemingly solved the issues. Johnson is open to helping if Pelinka reaches out, but with his experience and advisory circle, Pelinka likely won’t need to. Since Walter took over, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and team advisor Farhan Zaidi have served as advisors to the Lakers’ front office.

So, there’s no beef between the two; rather, it’s not just Johnson’s job to manage the team’s day-to-day activities, something the new president made clear recently.

Magic Johnson won’t reunite with the Lakers under Mark Walter

Even though Magic Johnson and Mark Walter share an excellent working relationship, having several commonalities, and the former Los Angeles Lakers guard even acts as an advisor to Walter, that doesn’t mean he’ll get involved in the franchise’s operations, at least for now. This was cleared by the Purple & Gold’s newly appointed president, Lon Rosen.

“Earvin’s involved with all types of things,” he told reporters. “He owns football teams, baseball teams, soccer teams, insurance companies, a lot of things. He’s always gonna have some type of involvement with all the teams, but he is not gonna have a day-to-day involvement.”

“It’s gonna be no different since he left the Lakers,” Rosen further said. “Obviously, he’s a huge fan of the Lakers, but he’s not gonna be, ‘Hey, Rob, go sign this player. Do that.’ He’ll always be involved with all the teams that he’s involved in, but no, he’s not gonna have day-to-day involvement at all.”

Still and all, Johnson’s informal involvement won’t be surprising to anyone (even if it doesn’t extend to Pelinka), considering his professional relationship with Rosen and Walter.