(Photo Credit: Johnny Nunez/Getty Images)
Last month, Magic Johnson shocked the NBA world by suddenly stepping down from his position of President of Basketball Operations for the Los Angeles Lakers.
We haven’t heard much from LeBron James or Lonzo Ball on the surprising decision at the time. With the the latest episode of The Shop on HBO, both players recalled when they learned of the news, and their reactions following the impromptu press conference.
“My right hand comes to me and says, ‘Magic just stepped down,’ ” James said. “I’m like, ‘You mean from out of his car? Get the f*** out of my face.’ … He’s like, ‘Go check your phone.’ No one had no idea. We were like, ‘Damn, like right now?’ “
Lonzo Ball had a slightly different reaction to the news.
“It was different for me,” he began. “Like, when I saw it, I was like ‘damn this s*** crazy!” Then I took a minute and I was like ‘Yo [Kyle Kuzma], what we doing tonight?’ The way [LeBron] looked at it wasn’t how I looked at it. I was just like ‘wow, this dude really stepped down! All right. Like yo, what’s good?’ So that’s how I saw it.”
Ball also addressed the controversy surrounding himself and family friend & co-founder of Big Baller Brand Alan Foster, in which the point guard claims that he had stolen $1.5 million against him.
“I’ve known him since I was 12,” he said. “He was like my second dad. I bought my mom and dad a house, like, he had a room. The way I feel about it is different, that’s why I covered the BBB [tattoo] up on my arm. When I saw that, I saw him, and that s*** just made me so, like, I was tight. When we looked at those transactions, the s*** didn’t start happening until my mom got sick. She took care of all the money s***. So that’s what really hurt me; that s*** hurt me. I don’t even know what I would do if I seen him right now. I ain’t seen him. When that happened, everything just went off.”
Other guests this week included Travis Scott, Pharrell Williams, Seth Rogen, Don Cheadle, Paul Rivera, Jimmy Iovine, and DeAndre Hopkins.
Watch a clip of the The Shop on HBO which airs on Saturdays below.