One of the greatest Lakers of all-time says one of the newest Lakers doesn’t belong.
Magic Johnson, the Lakers Hall of Famer who also has been a coach and executive for the franchise, called out Dennis Schroder after he had a disappointing playoff series entering his free agency.
“Schroder, I don’t think he’s a Laker,” Johnson said Friday on AM570 LA Sports. “That’s just my opinion. I don’t know if they’re going to sign him back or not. I don’t think he brings the winning mentality and attitude that we need.
“And he had a chance to show that in this series and, to me, he failed in this series. But again, if he comes back a Laker, I’m going to support him, I’m going cheer for him and all that, but I just don’t think he’s a Laker.”
The Lakers were eliminated by the Suns in a six-game first-round series. Schroder averaged 14.3 points, three rebounds and 2.8 assists, but he was scoreless on 0-for-9 shooting in the pivotal Game 5 blowout.
Coming off an NBA championship, the Lakers traded Danny Green and Jaden McDaniels to the Thunder for Schroder in November. Schroder, who averaged a career-high 19.4 points per game with the 2017-18 Hawks and backed it up with 18.9 points per game for the 2019-20 Thunder, was supposed to lessen the scoring and ball-handling burdens on LeBron James.
Of the court, Schroder caused a stir when he removed any mention of the Lakers from his Instagram account’s bio section before Game 6 against the Suns. He added it back before tip-off in response to a social-media craze and then removed it again when the season officially ended.
Schroder said he would “give everything” to return to the Lakers. He reportedly rejected a four-year, $84 million contract extension offer in March.