Johnson Absolutely, Positively Wants To Come Back To Lakers

The other shoe dropped Monday. Magic Johnson has thrown his size 15 next to the size-22 footwear of Shaquille O’Neal.

No more hints. No more whispers. Johnson is saying, loud and clear, he wants to come back to the Los Angeles Lakers and play with the recently signed O’Neal.

The earliest Johnson could do so is January, because the Lakers have renounced his rights.

The reaction from the Lakers?

Dead silence.

Neither owner Jerry Buss nor executive vice president Jerry West had any comment. Nor could they. While Johnson has told the media he wants to return for a third time to the club he led to five NBA titles in the 1980s, he has not yet broached the subject with the Lakers hierarchy.

League sources say some owners are skeptical, viewing Johnson’s latest comeback as a convenient ploy to circumvent the salary cap for a team that has already spent nearly all its money, the largest chunk going to O’Neal.