Lakers: Stephen A. Smith Targeting Magic Johnson as new ESPN Pregame Show Host

The former Laker could soon be back on the big screen, this time as a TV personality.

There are few former athletes with more post-career success than Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Having already put together a hall of fame career on the court, the former Laker has continued to stay relevant through his various business endeavors. 

One of those side projects for Magic was an attempt at leading his former team back to relevancy as their president of basketball operations. While he did succeed in luring LeBron James to Los Angeles, his tenure as a front office executive was otherwise filled with constant controversy and ill-timed comments that were consistently seen as tampering attempts. 

Now that his role with the team has come to an end, it seems that his talents are being requested from a different entity: Stephen A. Smith and the ESPN networks themselves. 

According to the New York Post's Andrew Marchand, Smith is heavily pursuing Magic as one of the next hosts for his new NBA countdown show this coming season. Magic does have a history as a guest host on the show in the past, which would give the network a preview of what they could expect if they bring him on. 

ESPN is currently in the midst of rebranding themselves after all of the Rachel Nichols drama, and who better than Magic Johnson to show that the network has cleaned up its act? 

Up next: Could Kevin Love finally be on his way to Los Angeles?