May 28, 2019 | 12:40pm
It’s easy to see why Magic Johnson couldn’t trust Rob Pelinka.
Pelinka, whose disastrous tenure as general manager of the Lakers hit a new low when the former team president (Johnson) recently accused the former agent of betrayal, has earned a reputation with the franchise for disingenuous, or entirely false, storytelling, multiple team sources told ESPN.
One of the biggest lies Kobe Bryant’s former agent has been caught telling features Pelinka setting up a dinner for the Lakers legend and Heath Ledger — following the actor’s death.
Speaking in front of the entire team in March 2018 — while standing alongside guest speaker Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as part of the team’s “Genius Talks” series — Pelinka shared this fictional anecdote.
“There was one time when Kobe, who I worked with for 18 years, was going back to play in Madison Square Garden, and he had just seen ‘The Dark Knight,’” Pelinka told the team. “Obviously, you guys saw that movie, and he’s like, ‘Hey, hook me up with dinner with Heath Ledger, because he got so locked into that role. I want to know how he mentally went there.’ So, he had dinner with Heath, and he talked about how he locks in for a role.
“And Kobe used some of that in his game against the Knicks.”
Ledger died six months before the July 2008 release of the film, and posthumously won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.