Hall of Famer Magic Johnson might be the only one in the world who is impressed with how the Los Angeles Lakers are playing after tweeting "controversial" statements on Wednesday.
Johnson praised Kobe Bryant on his Twitter account, saying that the 16-time All-Star should be included in the talks for early Most Valuable Player candidates along with other superstars.
"Kobe should also be in the early MVP talks with LeBron, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, Carmelo [Anthony], [Stephen] Curry, [Klay] Thompson and [Derrick] Rose," Johnson posted on Twitter.
"Other early MVP candidates are [John] Wall, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tony Parker & Dirk [Nowitzki]. When [Russell] Westbrook & [Kevin] Durant get back they will be in the mix also," he continued.
Bryant, who is playing in his 19th season in the league, averaged 27.6 points to go along with 5.2 rebounds and 2.8 assists in their first five games. His numbers, particularly his point production, look impressive, but he is shooting just 40.2 percent from the field and has already attempted 122 shots - the most in the league.
Most people had sarcastic response to Johnson's tweets with most of them questioning why should Bryant be an MVP candidate if he failed to lead his team to a victory in their first five games. But in another tweet, Johnson sounded impressed with the way the Lakers are playing despite their 0-5 start.
"I know the Lakers are 0-5, but they are playing exciting basketball and Kobe is worth the price of admission," Johnson said of the Lakers' winless start this season.
The Lakers lost in their first five games by an average margin of 14.6 points and they ranked last in terms of points allowed with 116.8 points per game.
Bryant, on the other hand, was also asked about their disappointing start, saying that he is aware of what most people are saying about their team, but he is not worried about it as he vowed to continue competing.
"You can't listen to what everybody says," Bryant said via ESPN. "You can't listen to people. You've got to be stubborn as a mule. You've got to keep chipping away. Got to keep competing and going after it, and this thing will turn around. Just as easily as we lost five in a row, we can turn around and win five in a row."
