NBA Legend Magic Johnson Reveals Why The Lakers Passed On Jayson Tatum

Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson spoke about the team deciding to draft Lonzo Ball over Jayson Tatum.

June 23, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson introduces newly drafted player Lonzo Ball to media at Toyota Sports Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Magic Johnson is one of the best players to ever play for the Los Angeles Lakers.

He also briefly ran the team as their President of Basketball Operations (2017-19).

One of the biggest moves he made was selecting Lonzo Ball was with the second pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Dec 14, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Lonzo Ball (2) looks to pass in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

However, the next pick was Jayson Tatum (Boston Celtics).

Johnson recently spoke about the decision (via SiriusXM NBA Radio, h/t NBACentral).

Johnson: "We took a look at him, I was the president. The problem was we we're top-heavy in forwards. I couldn't take him. We had Brandon Ingram... Julius Randle, Larry Nance Jr., so I had already too many forwards. Already, there was already problems because they all wanted to play. If I took another forward, we would never see this Tatum if he had ended up with the Lakers... We needed a point guard at that time and that's why we took Lonzo Ball. We didn't need the locker room to have any problems with another young forward."

[Jayson Tatum’s] agent didn’t want him to work out for [the Lakers]…because we already had too many forwards

Magic Johnson, Lakers Pres. of Basketball Operations (Feb. 2017–Apr. 2019), tells @JumpShot8 and @TermineRadio why LA didn’t draft Jayson Tatum with the 2nd overall pick pic.twitter.com/SYQjOF3854

— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) December 17, 2024

Ball played two seasons for the Lakers.

In that span, he averaged 10.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.6 steals per contest while shooting 38.0% from the field and 31.5% from the three-point range in 99 games.

While Ball has been a good NBA point guard, he has dealt with injuries (and never been an All-Star).

Nov 29, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Lonzo Ball (2) defends against Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

As for Tatum, he is one of the best ten players in the NBA.

The superstar forward is averaging 28.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 1.2 steals per contest while shooting 45.3% from the field and 35.9% from the three-point range.