A mentorship from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should have been priceless for a young Lakers center. Instead, according to Ivica Zubac, it never materialized after a meeting with Magic Johnson.

That revelation surfaced on February 11, when Ivica Zubac appeared on the X’s and O’s Chat podcast and detailed how Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wanted a role with the Lakers specifically to mentor him. The Croatian big man said Abdul-Jabbar met with then-President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson, but no position followed.

That meeting, and what came after it, sits at the center of what Zubac now views as a costly turning point during his Lakers tenure. “He had a meeting with Magic, and I don’t know what happened there, but he never got a job with the Lakers,” Zubac said. “He wanted some kind of role with the team just to work with me and the big guys, but unfortunately, that never happened.”

Zubac was earning roughly $1.5 million during the 2018-19 season before being traded. The mentorship opportunity that could have reshaped his development disappeared, and months later, so did his Lakers role. Zubac’s connection with Abdul-Jabbar did not happen by accident.

During his early Lakers years, he worked closely with longtime trainer Bill Bertka, who previously trained legendary centers including Wilt Chamberlain and Abdul-Jabbar himself. Zubac caught Bertka’s attention by practicing the skyhook, the signature shot Abdul-Jabbar perfected.

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Impressed, Bertka invited Abdul-Jabbar to observe a workout. That meeting led to further conversations about a potential mentorship role. However, after Abdul-Jabbar met with Johnson, nothing progressed. “After a few games, he came to watch and Luke Walton drew up a play for me to shoot a baseline sky hook,” Zubac explained. “I missed it and that was the end of them drawing plays for me.”

Instead of a long-term developmental plan built around one of the greatest centers in league history, Zubac found himself drifting in and out of the rotation. Context matters here. Johnson served as Lakers President of Basketball Operations from 2017 to 2019, a period defined by aggressive roster reshaping. Zubac was drafted 32nd overall in 2016 and appeared in 114 games over two and a half seasons, but the organization shifted priorities toward spacing and stretch-five lineups.

As a result, development patience ran thin.

Zubac’s trade was one of the major mistakes made by the Magic Johnson-led Lakers

On February 7, 2019, the Lakers traded Zubac and Mike Beasley to the Clippers in exchange for Mike Muscala. At the time, Muscala had recently scored 20 points against Los Angeles, and the Lakers reportedly viewed him as a floor-spacing big.

“It’s funny, everyone was surprised, but that year Muscala scored 20 points against us in L.A.,” Zubac said. “I guess they saw him as a stretch five, someone who can shoot and all that. That’s how they explained it to me when they called.”

Few paid much attention to the deal in real time. However, hindsight shifted the narrative. Muscala played 17 games for the Lakers before being traded to Oklahoma City. He later retired at age 33.

Meanwhile, Zubac developed into one of the league’s most reliable interior anchors. Last season, he averaged 16.8 points and 12.6 rebounds and entered discussions for both Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player. This season, prior to his February 5 trade to Indiana, he was averaging 14.4 points and 11.0 rebounds while shooting 61.3 percent from the field.

Those numbers frame the missed opportunity differently.

During the late 2010s, multiple teams prioritized stretch bigs over traditional centers as small-ball systems dominated the league. Development timelines were shortened, and front offices often favored immediate spacing over interior growth.

Zubac’s case fits that broader pattern. However, what separates this situation is the blocked mentorship layer. While other young bigs simply faced schematic shifts, Zubac described a scenario where a Hall of Fame teacher was willing to help but never formally brought into the fold.

That distinction sharpens the criticism. Zubac did not directly accuse Johnson of personal animosity. In fact, he admitted he does not know what occurred in that meeting.

Still, the outcome remains clear. The mentorship never happened, the developmental runway narrowed, and within months, the Lakers moved on from a young center earning mid-seven figures.

For Los Angeles, it became another debated personnel decision from that era. For Zubac, it marked a moment where belief inside the building felt absent despite Abdul-Jabbar’s interest. Now with Indiana, he continues building the career that once could have unfolded under Kareem’s guidance in purple and gold. Sometimes a missed meeting changes more than a depth chart.