Magic Johnson Predicts L.A. Lakers Won't Win the West

On an ESPN roundtable with basketball analysts Jon Barry, Chris Broussard and Michael Wilbon, Laker great Magic Johnson predicted the Lakers won't win the Western Conference, calling the best teams "Dallas, first, Oklahoma City, second."

After selling his ownership in the team to billionaire season-ticket holder Patrick Soon-Shiong in 2010, Magic has been publicly critical of the current Los Angeles Lakers roster.

Blow the team up, he suggested, after the Lakers exit from the 2011 playoffs. The Celtics will win Game 7, he predicted, during the 2010 NBA Finals.

His lobbying did not come true and the team has returned in tact for the 2011-12 season (granted a major deal does not occur before the start of training camp this Friday).

So with a new season comes new doubt from one of the greatest Lakers of all time.

Whether it's an effort to show impartiality as an ESPN/ABC basketball analyst or his true assessment of the current roster, Magic is certainly not shy of being critical of his former team.

Magic Johnson is still a vice president with the Lakers organization. But this title bears no day-to-day responsibilities; it's more of a consulting role with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak.

Would Magic be saying these things if he still had a financial interest in the organization? If Magic ends up owning the Dodgers, would he be saying the Dodgers can't win the NL West? Highly doubtful.

Through his ongoing public bashing of the Lakers, Magic has shown he can truly be detached from the organization in forming his own basketball opinions, for better or for worse.

Or, as Chris Broussard jokingly suggested, Magic just doesn't want Kobe to get more rings than him.

You be the judge.