NBA legend Magic Johnson questions Lakers’ LeBron James strategy in playoff loss

LeBron James played an unbelievable 46 minutes and 14 seconds in the Los Angeles Lakers' Game 4 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The King stuffed the stat sheet while he was out there, scoring 27 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and 8 assists to go along with three steals and three blocks.

However, despite his impressive performance, LeBron was scoreless in the 4th as the Wolves made their run to secure an incredibly important victory. JJ Redick's decision to play James and Luka Doncic for almost the entire game might have backfired at the most important point of the game.

NBA fans reacted to the Timberwolves' clutch victory, with a few suggesting that the Lakers are not as good as they thought they were. And while that might be over the top, arguably the greatest Laker ever in Magic Johnson, had some more reasonable criticisms.

I dont know if it smart to play LeBron and Luka the entire second half after only having one day of rest between Games 3 and 4. When we needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter he couldn’t - he scored 0 points in the fourth.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) April 27, 2025

"I dont know if it smart to play LeBron and Luka the entire second half after only having one day of rest between Games 3 and 4," Johnson wrote in a post on X. "When we needed LeBron to take over in the fourth quarter he couldn’t - he scored 0 points in the fourth."

Magic helped LA win five championships, so he knows what he's talking about when it comes to basketball decisions. The Lakers' roster may be too weak to compete at the playoff level, but giving the stars nearly no rest is not a recipe for winning basketball.

JJ Redick has a lot of thinking to do before the team is ready to take on Game 5. The Lakers will now face three straight elimination games, but if something in the rotation can be figured out, then it would be a huge advantage for Redick, his team, and the 40-year-old LeBron.

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