'Magic Johnson With The Steal!' What Kliff Kingsbury Won't Reveal About Commanders vs. Raiders
Amid a swirl of supposed controversy, in the end, all Magic Johnson did was ... his job.
The Las Vegas Raiders thought they'd sealed a deal with Kliff Kingsbury just before he was instead hired as the new offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders.
Shortly after the Commanders brought in Kingsbury came reports that the NBA legend Johnson - who is part owner of the Commanders and who, interestingly was once rumored to be close to playing that same role with the Raiders - played a key role in convincing Kingsbury to come to D.C.
And we're not sure why anybody is troubled by that.
On Thursday at his introductory presser, Kingsbury was about that angle and declined to address it.
And we're not sure why anybody is troubled by that, either.
It was during Super Bowl Week when our friend, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, first reported on the Magic angle, saying, "To look at the flip that happened when he was with the Raiders, my understanding is Magic Johnson, who is a limited partner with the Commanders, was actually the one to step in and kind of pull Kliff Kingsbury back and go, ‘You know what if this deal with the Raiders isn’t perfect, maybe there’s a home for you in Washington.'”
Since then, new Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce has essentially confirmed the story.
Said Pierce to Ryan Clark. “So, you’re right; I thought we had a guy, but not for long. Til you put pen to paper, that’s the one thing I’ve learned. ... Listen, Magic Johnson is pretty good. ... If I’m losing to Magic, I’m OK with that."
Pierce nails it here. To us, the Ben Johnson-related criticism of the Commanders' front office - the "basketball guys" thing, remember? - is fair.
But when a "basketball guy" gets the job done in a way that legally steals an asset for Washington? It's fair to give that "basketball guy" his praise.
