Magic Johnson: Rob Pelinka's Call After Lakers Won Title 'Means the World to Me'

Magic Johnson is no longer part of the Los Angeles Lakers organization, but he got a chance to celebrate the team's title Sunday night after receiving a call from general manager Rob Pelinka: 

"He's an unbelievable person, and we have an incredibly strong relationship," Pelinka said of Johnson. "He was one of my first calls tonight."

Johnson served as the Lakers president of basketball operations for two years, helping the team sign LeBron James in 2018, before stepping down from the role in April 2019.

As Johnson later explained on First Take, the relationship with Pelinka was a main reason for leaving:

He also indicated Pelinka was smearing his name behind his back.

However, Johnson said last December the two have cleared the air about their differences.

"Things happened, forgive and forget. I've moved past that, so did Rob," he said, per Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times. "Rob and I made up, we're good, we still talk."

While the Lakers had two losing seasons with Johnson in the front office, he did bring in several key pieces that helped lead to a championship, including LeBron, Kyle Kuzma, Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, JaVale McGee and others.

Draft picks Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart also helped bring in Anthony Davis through an eventual trade with the New Orleans Pelicans.

It culminated in the Lakers defeating the Miami Heat in the NBA finals Sunday for the 17th championship in franchise history.