Martellus Bennett says his Magic Johnson tweet wasn’t meant as a put-down
The Lakers appointed Johnson as president of basketball operations Tuesday.
Beware the limits of 140 characters.
Martellus Bennett had to do some hasty cleanup on his Twitter feed Tuesday afternoon, after a well-intentioned tweet about Magic Johnson was largely interpreted as a harsh takedown of the Los Angeles Lakers legend.
Less than two hours after Johnson was announced as the Lakers’ new president of basketball operations, Bennett — who is known for his unfiltered social media presence — recalled a conversation he had with the five-time NBA champion, wishing he “had that 5 minutes back.”
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/834130743676788736
The post, which was retweeted hundreds of times Tuesday afternoon, was immediately taken by many as a surprising dig at Johnson.
— Ikeyo 🇳🇬 (@Ikeyo_) February 21, 2017
RT @MartysaurusRex I had a conversation with Magic Johnson when I was 21 and a rookie. Damn I wish I had that 5 minutes back. pic.twitter.com/Dm0ucD5veL
— KB (@KBKnowzBest) February 21, 2017
https://twitter.com/TheTroll_Farmer/status/834135390428753921
Thirty minutes later — after realizing that’s how the tweet was being received — Bennett clarified:
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/834139609143635968
https://twitter.com/MartysaurusRex/status/834140180219121665
Woops.
In promoting Johnson — a prolific tweeter himself — Lakers co-owner and president Jeanie Buss also fired general manager Mitch Kupchak and removed part-owner Jim Buss, her brother, from his role as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations. Less than three week after returning to the team, Johnson now has the final say on the team’s basketball decisions.
