NFL Rumors: NBA Legend ‘Lobbied Hard’ For Commanders To Hire Bill Belichick
Bill Belichick wants to keep coaching, but there seem to be multiple factors working against him at this stage of his career.
The Falcons passed over Belichick this offseason, hiring Raheem Morris after conversations between Falcons owner Arthur Blank and Patriots owner Robert Kraft reportedly swayed the former. He just turned 72, leading many to think his shelf life is relatively limited. It’s also well known that his most recent run went pretty terribly, but one notable name still supports his quest to remain coaching.
Magic Johnson.
It makes more sense than you think.
Johnson, a legendary member of the Los Angeles Lakers, is a minority owner of the Washington Commanders and “lobbied hard” for Belichick to be the team’s new head coach, according to an ESPN report by Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler on Wednesday.
It wasn’t made clear why Johnson wanted Belichick so bad, but if we take a peak back to his time as an executive in LA, he clearly likes employing stars.
The Commanders obviously went in another direction, hiring general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn to lead the franchise under new principal owner Josh Harris — who himself might also have been swayed through a phone call with Kraft
In the end, both Belichick and Johnson didn’t get their way.