Magic Johnson Rips Lakers for Not Hiring Phil Jackson

The decision to make Mike D'Antoni the new coach of the Los Angeles Lakers has garnered mixed reviews from fans wanting Phil Jackson to take the spot.

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The news wasn't taken lightly by superstar Magic Johnson who weighed in on the issue after taking an uncharacteristic break from social media.

The former basketball star took to Twitter on Wednesday night posting, "The reason I haven't tweeted in 2 days is because I've been mourning Phil Jackson not being hired as the Lakers head coach."

He followed up with another tweet posting, "My mother always taught me that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

Johnson had a chance to voice his concern again during an appearance on ESPN. He commented on Jim Buss, the executive vice president for the Lakers, and his decision to hire D'Antoni as well as Dr. Jerry Buss, the Lakers' owner whom Johnson played under.

"Love Dr. Buss, don't believe in Jim Buss," said Johnson.

He continued: "He's made two critical mistakes already. To me, they made two critical mistakes. First, hiring Mike Brown - he wasn't the right coach. He's a great coach but not the right coach for the Lakers. And I don't feel Mike D'Antoni is the right coach for the Lakers. Especially when you have Phil Jackson sitting out there, who wanted to be the Laker coach. Jim Buss decided he didn't want Phil Jackson, he wanted Mike D'Antoni. And that's okay, but why didn't you just say that? But the fans were cheering for Phil Jackson two nights in a row."

Jim Buss responded to Johnson with a comment to ESPN saying, "I believe in Magic as I always have."

D'Antoni is likely to make his debut as the Lakers head coach on Friday against the Phoenix Suns.