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Saturday, January 13, 2001
Magic tells stars to have fun, win games
Associated Press
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LOS ANGELES -- Magic Johnson, who had some experience in "coexisting" with another superstar when he played with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, told feuding Lakers Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant: "Hey, it's about winning."
Johnson, who led Los Angeles to five NBA titles in the 1980s, spoke briefly with O'Neal and Bryant prior to Friday night's game against Cleveland.
"I just met with both of them separately. It's about going out
there, playing together and winning. I think the message was
received," Johnson related. "These guys are professionals, and
they're two of the best players in the league, so they'll find a
way of working it out."
Johnson said he was not worried about the rift between O'Neal and Bryant that surfaced this week.
"We'll be fine," said Johnson, the Lakers' vice president. "I'm not really surprised by anything that happens in basketball, because I think I was in this similar situation, in a sense, with Kareem.
"So we'll weather this storm and keep going. We're two games
out of having the best record in the NBA, and we can't lose sight
of that."
Johnson said that for him and Abdul-Jabbar, "Nothing ever
interrupted winning for the team. And I think one of those guys is
going to have to defer to the other. That's all. But they've got to
work that out. There's enough shots out there for everybody."
He believes the fact that the Lakers haven't been as dominant so
far this season as they were the last has been a factor.
"The fact that we haven't gotten on a roll like we did last
year, I think this story has become much bigger than it is,"
Johnson said. "But I believe that we're OK. It's not like we're
fighting or anything.
"If we're going to have this situation come up, it's good that
it's happened now. So let's get it behind us and point toward
winning another championship. We're still a young team and these
are young guys."
Bryant said he enjoyed the talk with Johnson.
"He talked about some of the Laker teams of the '80s. It's cool
to listen to Magic talking about it," Bryant said. "He said,
`Just keep playing and having fun playing."'
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