Not strange: Ben Simmons wanting to meet with Magic Johnson. Johnson is the greatest tall point guard of all-time, and Simmons obviously fits the mold.
Strange: Johnson being the one to reveal Simmons’ desire. Simmons plays for the 76ers, and Johnson – who has sparked multiple tampering fines – is the Lakers’ president.
Very strange: Johnson bringing it up as a possibility after a team – Philadelphia or Los Angeles, depending whom you believe – put the kibosh on it.
76ers general manger Elton Brand on 97.5 The Fanatic:Sean Tribe and Liam Tribe – these are Ben Simmons’ brothers – wanted him this offseason to be around all-time greats, talk to champions about their preparation, their work ethic, their focus, what made them champions. So, Michael Jordan, Kobe – these type-level of players. Dr. J. Get him with these ultimate just winners.
And somehow, Magic got in the mix. And they asked me. Rob Pelinka called me and said, “Hey, we’re hearing Ben wants to talk to Hall of Famers, championship-level players, and Magic’s on the list. We need authorization for him to meet up.”
And I said no. This was over a month ago.
Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times:
The Lakers are being investigated again. Per NBA spokesman Mike Bass: "The league office is looking into whether any contact took place between Ben Simmons and the Los Angeles Lakers that violated NBA rules."
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) February 11, 2019
OK, I have 2 things on the Simmons/Magic front.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) February 11, 2019
1. I've had a source tell me that the 76ers initiated the discussion about Simmons wanting to meet with Magic. The source said Pelinka was calling Elton Brand back to say they weren't comfortable with it.
2. Spoke to someone familiar with Simmons' thinking who said Simmons spends his summers in LA, that his desire to meet with Johnson is simply about their on-court similarities, and that he'll be a Sixer for a long time.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) February 11, 2019
These are two very different stories coming from Brand and out of Los Angeles. Did the 76ers try to set up a meeting and have the Lakers say they were uncomfortable with it? Did Simmons’ camp – maybe including his agent, Rich Paul, who also represents Lakers superstar LeBron James – try to orchestrate the meeting and get shut down by Philadelphia?
At least Brand put his name behind his comments. The story out of Los Angeles seems fishy. If the 76ers initiated the conversation, why would Lakers say no? It’d be a great recruiting opportunity. And if they the Lakers actually said no, why would Johnson bring it up yesterday as a possibility?
The least surprising development is Johnson getting entangled in yet another tampering mess. He keeps doing this.
Really, I thought his public comments yesterday on Simmons alone were enough to violate tampering rules. It’s not as if Johnson were asked about Simmons’ desired meeting, which wasn’t even public at that point. Johnson was asked about watching Simmons play then brought up Simmons wanting a meeting. NBA commissioner Adam Silver warned Johnson, “Stop talking about players on other teams.”
If Johnson went too far in his press conference, that’s a relatively minor issue. It might get him fined as a repeat violator, but that comment obviously isn’t persuading Simmons to join the Lakers. But if there’s more to this, that’s on the NBA to discover in its investigation.
