Durant announced his decision to join the Pelicans so quickly that the Lakers had no time to try to keep him.
In fact, after Jeanie Buss and Johnson met with Durant that night, they still felt they had a good chance of retaining him.
But reality came too fast and caught them completely off guard.
After learning the news, "Magic" Johnson immediately resigned as the Lakers' general manager.
Lakers fans were strict, just as they had been with Durant.
Johnson had assembled a James-Durant roster but failed to win a championship, and he faced heavy criticism over the supporting cast.
Especially regarding Simmons. Back when the James-Durant pairing was formed, they had already believed Simmons could not fit in, yet Johnson kept him.
Now that a season had passed, Simmons' Trade Value had plummeted, and the criticism Johnson faced had only grown louder.
Brook Lopez had left for Milwaukee, Durant had gone to New Orleans, and Johnson had resigned.
The Lakers, who had only just risen again with great difficulty, looked set to collapse once more.
Just like Lakers fans said on social media, "What do we do?" The Lakers seemed about to enter another dark, hopeless stretch.
Some fans even called for Kobe to take over as the team's general manager, hoping the Black Mamba could bring the Lakers a miracle.
But amid the crisis, the Lakers' front office reacted quickly and appointed the well-known agent Rob Pelinka as their new general manager.
They held a press conference the very next day. Besides Jeanie Buss, Lakers legend Kobe and his wife Vanessa also came to show their support.
At the press conference, Pelinka stated outright that he would help the Lakers overcome their current difficulties.
And that was exactly what he did.
Over the next two days, Pelinka displayed