Despite his attempt to convince the Los Angeles Lakers not to draft Magic Johnson in 1979, NBA legend Jerry West never doubted his ability to lead. "The Logo" may have preferred the purple and gold to select Sidney Moncrief first overall because he thought he was the better player, but not in terms of the intangibles that the Michigan native already portrayed as early as his pre-draft workouts.
" In Magic's case, it was an absolute no-brainer. What you're talking about is someone who plays the game with personality and, confidence and control. If you can't see someone's got a game with a great personality, you shouldn't be out there looking ," West said in an interview with SLAM .
A rare draft blunder by West
The biggest reason Jerry opposed drafting the five-time champion was that he didn't believe that a 6'9" point guard weighing 215 pounds would function well in a fast-paced NBA during the '80s. Luckily for the Lakers , West didn't have the final say on who the team would acquire, as that privilege belonged to Jack Kent Cooke, the Lakers' owner before Jerry Buss took over.
However, while scouting Johnson alongside Lakers veteran scout Bill Berka, the 14-time All-Star noticed that the Michigan State product had something in common with the likes of Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul Jabbar , and Wilt Chamberlain and that's the fierce desire to win.
" They were all great competitors with a fierce desire to win. And most of them were extremely self-critical, so that if they were off one night, you could be almost positive that they would be back the next game with a vengeance. They simply would not tolerate failure from themselves, and if they had a bad night, the next opponent would pay the price ," West said .
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West and Johnson's relationship
By the time Magic took off in his rookie year with the purple and gold, Jerry gradually realized his draft blunder. The best way the one-time NBA champion made up for his mistake was to accommodate the rooke as soon as he landed with the Lakers. "The Logo" went from being one of Johnson 's doubters to being his mentor, which significantly played a massive part in Magic's success in his rookie year and throughout his career.
"When training camp began, he gave me so many golden nuggets and really critiqued every facet of my game. After every practice, he would give me notes on how I could get better, and those sessions carried over to the regular season. Once a week, we went over what I needed to improve and how I could dominate the league. Those meetings meant everything to me because I learned so much from him ," Johnson once said about West.
It's mind-blowing to think about how the Lakers were close to not drafting Johnson because of the preference for one of the greatest scouts to ever grace the NBA. Who knows what would've happened to purple and gold? It may have taken Magic some time to charm West, but the point guard's ability to lead a franchise was never in question.
Related: Phil Jackson once shared why Larry Bird was a better player than Magic Johnson: "I think I'll probably go with Larry"
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