Magic Johnson is a fanboy and that is just fine

Man, people love feeling and then spewing about their outrage. About what? Well, anything. Whether it concerns a social media platform’s new web design, some ill-scripted sketch or any other form of, um, anything, being outraged is all the rage these days. Really, outrage is the new black or something.

Which, somehow, brings us to Magic Johnson. Who, magically, became the focal point of many folks’ fake outrage. Their outrage stemmed from, you know, a tweet. Because if life has taught us anything, it is that a tweet should be taken with the same merit and credibility as a State of the Union Address or a promise from your mommy.

In case you missed it, Magic was pretty happy about Mike D’Antoni resigning from his job with the Lakers. So happy, in fact, that he decided to let the planet know his glee via the mean streets of Twitter. But then, and only then, the outrage over Magic Johnson’s fandom took over.

See, apparently at least, a person in Johnson’s standing is not allowed to be a fan. Yup. That’s right. Even though every single person on Earth who has ever followed sports probably rooted for a particular team or player at a certain point, when you reach the status of being Magic Johnson, those things are now no longer feelings one can encompass.

Not oddly enough, most of the outrage came from the mainstream media. The same mainstream media who openly acknowledge their own team allegiances.

One of their underlying themes happened to be about “Magic being bigger than that” or some other form of saying that someone in Johnson’s position shouldn’t be celebrating another person losing their job.

About that. There’s the semantic about the way Mike D’Antoni’s employment with the Lakers ended. As in, he quit. He did not get fired, he didn’t pass go, collect 200 dollars or have anything else happen to him that might have “wronged” him in any way. He quit. Like, stopped working for the team because he no longer wanted to. Which is a trend of D’Antoni’s — quitting before getting fired.

But that is just semantics. You don’t have time for semantics. You’re outraged!

Now, just stop for one second. Do me a favor and think about every team you root(ed) for. Hurl some of your favorite players in there as well, okay? Just do it. I’ll wait…

So, are your thoughts about those teams and players always rational? If you said yes, then you are a gosh slam liar.

Now imagine if you’re Magic Johnson. A dude who is the walking embodiment of the Lakers. At this point in life, and despite what South Park tells me, I am pretty sure Magic bleeds purple and gold. Notwithstanding the fact that bleeding those types of colors is probably unhealthy, it is just a stupid way to highlight the fact that Magic Johnson is a fan of the Lakers.

And, oh zoinks! Heaven forbid Magic Johnson is a fan of an NBA team. A team that he has openly, for years now, been a homer for. So none of this should be new or news to anyone, anyway.

I’m not telling you Magic should go on the picture-box and spew derogatory comments about D’Antoni or anything, but the thing is, he didn’t. He chose the Twitter-sphere to do his fist-pumping over another guy leaving his favorite team. Twitter, a place where souls die and humans become void of accountability, is the platform for things like this to happen. Not just for Magic, but for you too.

Granted, I know I’m not going to change any of the minds of the

fake

outraged, but not pointing out the fact that Magic Johnson is a fully licensed and practicing member of the human species — which grants him the ability and right to be a fan — would be something I would regret.

Here is what I am trying to say in the most roundabout way as humanly possible. Magic Johnson is just some dude. A guy who used to be the face of the Lakers, who still is to a large degree, really likes rooting for the Lakers to be good.

So, um, shame on him?