Magic Johnson takes four tweets to congratulate Rob Pelinka for Anthony Davis trade

Thomas Lott

•
Magic Johnson takes four tweets to congratulate Rob Pelinka for Anthony Davis trade image

Magic Johnson knew exactly what he was doing.

The former president of basketball operations for the Lakers congratulated the Lakers for making a reported deal for Anthony Davis on Saturday, but he left out one notable name in his first complimentary tweet.

"Great job by Owner Jeanie Buss bringing Anthony Davis to the Lakers!" Johnson wrote on Twitter. "Laker Nation, the Lakers are back in a championship hunt! Congratulations to the entire organization. I know LeBron James has a big smile on his face. I’m loving this!!"

Notice the name which does not appear in this tweet. It's none other than general manger Rob Pelinka who is now making all of the organizational moves for the team.

Johnson even doubled down with not bringing up Pelinka in a follow-up tweet.

"Laker Nation, you wanted the great Jeanie Buss to step up and bring a championship team back to LA and she’s doing just that!" he wrote.

And in a third effort he brought up the team's cap space rather than Pelinka.

There's probably good reason for this as Johnson said Pelinka was backstabbing him during the season on ESPN's "First Take" after he resigned from his position with the Lakers on the final day of the regular season.

"If you're going to talk about betrayal," he said, "It's only with Rob."

Johnson told "First Take" agents contacted him and told him to "watch out for" Pelinka during the season.

"If you want to elevate yourself, I'm all for that," Johnson said. "But there's a way to get that, and it's not talking about the person that's above you."

He eventually did get to congratulating Pelinka but it took him four tweets and 13 minutes to do so.

"Great trade Rob Pelinka!" he wrote. "Job well done."

Johnson might not be over the alleged "backstabbing" from Pelinka.

Thomas Lott