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James opened up on the news of Johnson's
decision -- which came April 9 shortly before the team's season
finale against Portland -- on his HBO show "The Shop," which
aired late Saturday night. James said he got the news from
longtime friend Randy Mims while he was stretching for the game,
and didn't believe it until he checked his phone.
"Man, get the f--- out of my face. You bulls---," James said of
his initial reaction.
"Personally for me," James added on the show, "I came here to be
a part of the Lakers organization having a conversation with
Magic. So it was just weird for him to be like, 'Nah, I'm out of
here.' And not even have no like, 'Hey, 'Bron, kiss my a--, I'm
out of here.' I would have been OK with that."
James met with Johnson at the latter's home on July 1 last
summer, minutes after the free-agent negotiating period began.
Not long after, he committed to joining the Lakers.
ESPN reported that James and his agent, Rich Paul, had met with
Johnson and Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka a few days before
Johnson stepped down, but James said he received no hint of the
upcoming resignation.
Lakers guard Lonzo Ball said he found out about the news through
James, who came into the locker room to tell teammates after
finding out.
"I was like, 'That s--- crazy,' " Ball said of finding out.
--Field Level Media
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