LOS ANGELES -- Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Isaiah Thomas says that having Magic Johnson at the helm of the rival Lakers will help bring star talent back to Los Angeles.
"Some superstar is going to come here," Thomas said Friday morning before Boston's morning shootaround at Staples Center. "It's good. Magic Johnson is arguably the best Laker ever, so to have him the head of all that and making decisions, it's a step in the right direction. Everybody respects him. I mean, the Lakers are not going to be, I guess, what they are now forever. He'll bring some people here."
Thomas is well-steeped in Lakers history. His father, James, is a die-hard Lakers fan and tried to raise his son to support the purple and gold. Even with Thomas on the other side of the rivalry now, Thomas is still struggling to fully convert his father.
"[James will] be here tonight and he'll probably have a Lakers hat and a Celtics hat," Thomas joked. "No, he'll have his Celtics stuff on tonight. But he'll definitely be here. And he loves L.A. This is home for him."
The fact that his son is the face of a Celtics franchise that sits second in the East still isn't enough to get Thomas' father to ditch his Lakers gear.
"It's deeper than that," Thomas said. "He might have a blue L.A. Dodgers hat on. He was born and raised here. But he knows. He'll have something Celtics on -- he's not crazy."
Thomas, who will be entering the last year of his current contract next season, was more of a Sonics fan growing up while being raised in Tacoma, Washington, and he resisted his father's fandom.
"I was brainwashed into being a Lakers fan when I was younger. So I always wanted to be a Laker," Thomas said. "But I love being a Celtic."
