Lon Rosen Sets Record Straight on Magic Johnson’s Role With Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers are making some drastic changes now that the Buss family has sold the storied NBA franchise to Mark Walter and his ownership group for a record-setting $10 billion.

The franchise under Walter will mold its front office after the Los Angeles Dodgers, which is likely a step in the right direction, considering the team’s success since 2012, when the new Lakers majority owner took over. Magic Johnson was part of that change for the Dodgers, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll have much involvement with the Lakers this time around.

Magic Johnson Won’t Have ‘Day-to-Day Involvement’ With Lakers

Magic Johnson Los Angeles Lakers — Feb 22, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Magic Johnson at unveiling of statue of former Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley at the Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Lon Rosen, who was recently named the new president of business operations for the Lakers, taking over for Tim Harris, spoke to the media ahead of Tuesday’s game against the Orlando Magic at Crypto.com Arena.

Rosen let it be known that Johnson won’t have day-to-day involvement with the team, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

"Earvin is one of the most unique individuals I've known in my life, and he's one of my closest friends," Rosen said. "I've known him since we were both 19. Earvin's involved with all types of things. He owns football teams, baseball teams, soccer teams, insurance companies, a lot of things. He's always going to have some type of involvement with all the teams, but he is not going to have a day-to-day involvement. It's going to be no different since he left the Lakers.

"Obviously, he's a huge fan of the Lakers, but he's not going to be, 'Hey Rob, go sign this player. Do that.' He'll always be involved with all the teams that he's involved in, but no, he's not going to have day-to-day involvement, at all. He is a super Laker fan and he'll continue to be a super Laker fan. It's not bad to have that."

Rob Pelinka Will Remain Lakers GM

Rob Pelinka JJ Redick Los Angeles Lakers — Sep 25, 2025; El Segundo, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, left, speaks during a press conference to preview the 2025-26 season at UCLA Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images | William Liang-Imagn Images

Along with making it clear that Johnson won’t have a role in the team’s day-to-day duties, Rosen cleared the air on longtime general manager Rob Pelinka’s future with the Lakers.

With a new regime coming in, Walter and company cleaning is something to be expected, but it doesn’t appear that it will involve moving on from Pelinka.

"I just run the business side, Rob's empowered to do what he does," Rosen said. "Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, they have involvement helping Rob a bit. It gives you a deeper bench, and I think Rob appreciates that. And it is unique. But they have a skill set that they can transfer some of it here. And that's really how we look at it.

"Look, I have a really good relationship with Rob. I've known Rob Pelinka from when he was representing Kobe [Bryant]. I met him many, many years ago."

It’ll be interesting to see what other changes are made once the 2025-26 NBA season officially comes to an end for the Lakers and the moves the new-look front office makes in the summer to build around superstar Luka Doncic for the foreseeable future.