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NBA legend Magic Johnson had strong words after the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs concluded Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
Magic Johnson’s latest praise for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama came with an uncomfortable message for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers legend congratulated Gilgeous-Alexander on winning back-to-back MVP awards, praised Wembanyama’s 41-point, 24-rebound masterpiece in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, then posted a broader warning about what the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs could mean for the rest of the West.
“I hate to break the news to the rest of the Western Conference,” Johnson wrote in a post shown, “but they may not have a chance to win the Western Conference Finals for the next 5-7 years.”
That is a bold claim. It also hits differently from a Lakers perspective.
Oklahoma City just swept Los Angeles out of the second round, closing the series with a 115-110 Game 4 win behind 35 points from Gilgeous-Alexander. San Antonio, meanwhile, opened the West Finals by stealing Game 1 from the Thunder in double overtime behind Wembanyama’s 41 points, 24 rebounds and three blocks.
Johnson’s point was not subtle. The Lakers are not chasing one obstacle. They may be chasing two.
I hate to break the news to the rest of the Western Conference, but they may not have a chance to win the Western Conference Finals for the next 5-7 years. The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are just that good! They are talented, deep, athletic and both teams are
Johnson first pointed to Gilgeous-Alexander’s place at the top of the league.
“Congratulations to @shaiglalex on winning back-to-back MVP awards!” Johnson wrote in a post that shared the NBA’s announcement video of Gilgeous-Alexander receiving the Michael Jordan Trophy.
The NBA announced Gilgeous-Alexander as the 2025-26 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player, making him the 14th player in league history to win MVP in consecutive seasons. He averaged 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, 4.3 rebounds and 1.40 steals while shooting 55.3% from the field and 38.6% from three-point range.
That matters to the Lakers because Gilgeous-Alexander is no longer just a star standing in the way. He is the reigning Finals MVP, a two-time regular-season MVP and the engine of a Thunder team that has already eliminated Los Angeles.
The Lakers did not lose a long, coin-flip series to Oklahoma City. They were swept. Even if Game 4 was close, the result made clear how little margin Los Angeles has against a Thunder team that can defend, create late-game offense and lean on a superstar who has become one of the league’s safest half-court answers.
Johnson’s warning did not stop with Oklahoma City.
After Wembanyama’s Game 1 eruption, Johnson wrote that the Spurs star “put on an incredible show” and noted that Wembanyama scored “from everywhere on the basketball court,” including a “Steph Curry like 3 pointer down the stretch.”
What a game! What a game! What a performance! What a performance! The San Antonio Spurs’s Victor Wembanyama put on an incredible show tonight finishing with 41 points and 24 rebounds. Wembanyama’s performance was so special because he did it from everywhere on the basketball
That is the nightmare scenario for the rest of the West. Wembanyama already changes games as a rim protector and rebounder. If he is also hitting pressure threes late in playoff games, the normal defensive answers start to disappear.
The Spurs’ win was even more impressive because De’Aaron Fox missed Game 1 with a sprained right ankle after being ruled out shortly before tipoff. San Antonio still won on the road, with rookie Dylan Harper playing a key role and Wembanyama carrying a massive workload.
For the Lakers, that is the second part of Johnson’s warning. Even if Los Angeles builds a roster better equipped to handle Oklahoma City, San Antonio is coming with a younger superstar whose two-way ceiling may be unlike anything else in the conference.
Johnson’s follow-up post named the deeper issue.
“The Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs are just that good!” Johnson wrote. “They are talented, deep, athletic and both teams are well coached.”
That description doubles as a Lakers checklist.
Los Angeles needs more athleticism. It needs more dependable depth. It needs enough two-way personnel to survive playoff series against teams that can spread the floor, protect the rim and keep pressure on for 48 minutes. The Thunder already exposed those problems. The Spurs may soon force the same conversation on the rest of the league.
The Lakers still have Luka Doncic as a franchise centerpiece, and their urgency will depend in part on what happens with LeBron James’ future. But Magic’s point is that star power alone may not be enough in the West anymore.
Oklahoma City has the MVP. San Antonio has Wembanyama. Both teams are already in the conference finals. And if Johnson’s 5-7 year warning proves even close to accurate, the Lakers’ offseason cannot be built around simply getting back into the playoff mix.
It has to be built around catching the teams that may now be defining the conference.
Erik Anderson is an award-winning sports journalist covering the NBA, MLB and NFL for Heavy.com. He also focuses on the trading card market. His work has appeared in nationally-recognized outlets including The New York Times, Associated Press , USA Today, and ESPN. More about Erik Anderson
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