LOS ANGELES -- Magic Johnson had the title he'd always wanted. He had the power to guide one of the most important franchises in sports, carte blanche.

Anything he wanted to do as president of basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers, he had the power to do. Fire the coach. Trade any player. Lakers owner Jeanie Buss told him that repeatedly.

But the only thing he really wanted was to go back to being Magic Johnson.

Beloved civic leader. International celebrity. Lakers legend. Basketball ambassador.

It's awesome being that guy. And Magic Johnson is great at it.

Being president of basketball operations for the Lakers is hard. Really, really hard. And Magic Johnson never figured out how to be Magic Johnson in that role, so he abruptly quit Tuesday night.

As stunning as his decision was for everyone in the NBA, he was remarkably clear in explaining himself.

"I was happier when I wasn't the president," Johnson said. "When you gotta make trades, you're not happy."

Johnson enumerated all sorts of unsavory things about the job during an hourlong media session that spilled out into the hallways and corridors of Staples Center before the Lakers' final game of the season.

He didn't like: "the backstabbing, the whispering. I don't like that. I don't like a lot of things that went on that didn't have to go on.

"The fines and the tampering and the this and the that, I can't help young men who want me to help them, or I can't tweet out. Like Russell Westbrook, that was a great feat the other day. I couldn't even tweet it out to say, 'Hey, congratulations.' If I had did that, everyone would have said, 'He's tampering.' I don't like that. I like to be free."

He really didn't like having to make the decision on whether to retain embattled coach Luke Walton.

"She gave me the power; that is the same page. I could have done anything I wanted to, tomorrow. But I decided to step down," he said.

But what he really didn't seem to like was the negativity he has faced this season. Negativity he couldn't charm his way out of.

There aren't many situations in life that Magic Johnson hasn't been able to charm, compete or fight his way out of. The ones he couldn't -- talk-show host, Lakers coach and now Lakers president -- he got away from quickly.

Who needs it?

Magic Johnson stared death in the face when he was diagnosed with HIV in 1991 and decided he was going to beat it. And he did. So then he decided that whatever was left of his life, he was going to spend exactly as he wanted to. As he said, "I got a great life. Damn, I got a great life outside of this. What the F ... what am I doing? I got a beautiful life. I'm going back to that beautiful life. I'm looking forward to it."

That's a beautiful sentiment.

But it was also a cruel thing to do to a woman he considers to be family.

"I want to thank my sister for allowing me to do this," Johnson said of Lakers owner Jeanie Buss. "I couldn't face her to tell her, so I had to do it this way because we love each other so much."

They might love each other, but telling the world before telling your family -- not to mention your boss -- is weak.

Yes, being the Lakers' president is hard, and if Johnson didn't want to keep doing it, he didn't have to keep doing it. But he could've talked it through with Buss and planned his exit, instead of leaving the franchise in an embarrassing lurch.

Leaving the way he did, with the franchise approaching one of the most important summers in recent history and with the situation with Walton still so unsettled, feels a lot like bailing when things got hard.

People have jobs they don't want to do and can't do. They find a way to do them, or an acceptable way out of them.

Those close to Johnson say he was "deeply offended" by the constant accusations of tampering that followed him and essentially forced him into the shadows this season.

When he did talk, he always said too much. That's how he always has been and part of the reason he has been so beloved. There's literally an NBA award named after him, the Magic Johnson Award, given to the player who has the best cooperation with the media. Magic was always that guy, as a player and later as a public figure. He's great at it.

But that's not what being an executive is. Not in a league for which information is not only commodified, but weaponized.

Magic never figured out how to play that game. He's best when the cameras are on. In the shadows, he lost his way -- and his identity.

Jeanie Buss was just as stunned as the rest of the world to hear Johnson's resignation. A few hours later, she put out a classy statement and tweet, even as she and the Buss family processed the situation. In addition to being stunned, those close to the family said they were sad, angry and disappointed.

She spent the rest of Tuesday night huddled with general manager Rob Pelinka and several close advisers at the team's headquarters in El Segundo.

Johnson's quotes about Pelinka fell far short of a ringing endorsement, which left many wondering whether that factored into his decision to step down. Lakers sources strongly shouted that notion down even as Johnson's quotes suggested otherwise.

"Do I think Rob is the right GM?" Johnson said. "That's a decision Jeanie has to make. I worked well with him. I had no problems with him. Now they say he had some bad, I don't know about that. A lot of my agent friends had called, but Jeanie has to make all the calls, that's not calls for me to make. This is her organization."

In a three-hour meeting Monday, Buss had once again made it clear that she was giving Johnson the power to make the basketball decisions for the franchise, including the power to fire Walton and hire whichever coach with whom he believed he'd have a better rapport.

He either didn't want that power or couldn't handle it.

So now that power is right back to where it always should have been -- with Jeanie Buss. She has to start using it, instead of looking for someone else to pass it to.

A woman is suing the Houston Astros for more than $1 million, claiming her finger was broken when she was hit by a shirt from the T-shirt cannon fired at close range by the team's mascot, Orbit, last season.

Jennifer Harughty says in the suit that her left index finger was shattered on July 8, 2018, when she was hit by a shirt from the cannon. Harughty, who was sitting in the middle of the first deck behind the third base line, says she has had two surgeries on the finger but still has impaired range of movement.

Harughty filed a lawsuit against the Astros on Monday, alleging the organization was negligent, failed to warn fans about the risk associated with the cannon, didn't properly train staff on the equipment and failed to enact policies to ensure fans' safety.

"The Astros are aware of the lawsuit with allegations regarding Orbit's t-shirt launcher," the team said in a statement. "We do not agree with the allegations. The Astros will continue to use fan popular t-shirt launchers during games. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment on this matter."

Harughty said in the suit that she has had more than $15,000 in medical bills and wants to be compensated for mental anguish, lost opportunity, lost enjoyment of life and lost earnings.

An attorney for Harughty told the Houston Chronicle that the suit was filed after the Astros refused to pay the woman's medical bills.

Suits by injured fans are difficult to win because Major League Baseball tickets include a disclaimer saying that the bearer of the ticket assumes all risk and dangers incidental to the game and releases the team and Major League Baseball from liability.

Lenny Dykstra sued former New York Mets teammate Ron Darling on Tuesday for defamation and libel, following through on his threat to file a lawsuit for claims Darling made about Dykstra in his new book.

In his book "108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game," Darling wrote that Dykstra shouted racial taunts at Boston Red Sox pitcher Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd from the on-deck circle before Game 3 of the 1986 World Series.

The suit was filed in New York Supreme Court (a trial-level court) and lists St. Martin's Press LLC, Macmillan Publishing Group LLC and Darling as defendants.

"Plaintiff has no choice but to bring this action to defend his name and reputation. Upon information and belief, merely to sell books and indulge in public self-promotion, Darling has sought to capitalize on Plaintiff's complicated past, and intentionally, falsely and maliciously portrayed Plaintiff as a racist, an irremovable stain and permanent cloud which will forever diminish Mr. Dykstra, stalk him, and preclude him from unknowable professional and personal relationships and benefits," the lawsuit states.

Dykstra is seeking monetary damages, compensatory damages -- "including emotional distress damages for loss of opportunities, for the severe mental anguish, loss of reputation and humiliation, caused by Defendants' unlawful and malicious conduct" -- and punitive damages, plus court costs.

Earlier this month, Darling said he stood by what he wrote about Dykstra, telling ESPN Radio's Golic and Wingo that "I heard what I heard, and I put it in the book for a reason."

Other members of the 1986 Mets have defended Dykstra, including Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden and Kevin Mitchell.

Darling, a 58-year-old SNY broadcaster, declined comment before the Mets' game against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night. Tracey Guest of St. Martin's Press also declined comment.

Dykstra, 56, was sentenced to three years in a California state prison in March 2012 by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Ulfig after pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement.

He was sentenced to 6½ months in prison that December by U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson after Dykstra pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets and money laundering. The sentences were to be served concurrently.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Los Angeles Angels star outfielder Mike Trout is day-to-day after straining his right groin during Tuesday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Following his team's 11-8 victory, Trout said he first felt discomfort after completing a workout earlier in the day and it flared up as he was running to second base in the second inning. He was removed for Peter Bourjos in the fourth.

"I went in the outfield (during the third inning) and it felt worse," Trout said. "I didn't want to push it. It is better to take time out than blow it out."

Angels manager Brad Ausmus said it was more than likely he would keep Trout out of the lineup for Wednesday's series finale. The Angels have Thursday off before beginning a three-game series Friday in Chicago against the Cubs. Considering the chilly forecast for the weekend, Trout could remain out if he's not 100 percent.

Trout said he was feeling better, but considering how early it is in the season, he's also aware of taking things slow.

"After talking to doctors, it was a pretty good thing I came out. I just have to get it right, and when it is 100 percent, I will play," he said.

Trout, who signed a record $426.5 million, 12-year contract near the end of spring training, is second in the American League with a .406 batting average. The two-time MVP is tied for third in home runs (five) and tied for fourth in RBIs (12). He has reached base safely in all 12 games.

HOUSTON -- New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino will be shut down for the next six weeks after an MRI revealed a Grade 2 lat strain on his right side.

The injury, revealed in an MRI performed in New York on Tuesday, is separate from the right rotator cuff inflammation he originally was diagnosed with during spring training.

Since the lat strain didn't present itself on the MRI that Severino had after he was diagnosed with the rotator cuff inflammation, it is believed he might have developed the lat strain at some point during the rehab throwing program he has been under the past two weeks.

While out for the next six weeks, Severino won't throw at all, the team said.

"I don't know if 'relief' is the right word, but a little bit like, 'OK, now we know what it is,'" manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday after the Yankees' 6-3 loss to the Houston Astros. "A little relief that it's not going to be a surgery thing.

"Obviously, it's going to take a little more time now, but a little comfort in knowing this is what it is, it appears to be treatable; just got to take some time, and hopefully we'll get a healthy, strong and fresh Sevy back for a good portion of the season."

Boone said Monday that the Yankees were sending Severino from their facility in Tampa, Florida, to New York in order to undergo a reevaluation by head team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad.

In recent days, Severino hadn't been feeling pain, Boone said. But the team's ace also hadn't been feeling comfortable enough in his rehab to graduate to getting back on the mound. Since his throwing program resumed at the end of March after a three-week stint of inactivity, Severino had done only some long-toss and had advanced to throwing from about 130 feet off flat ground.

According to Boone, Severino was having some of his best rehab work over the weekend.

Boone also reported that Severino "didn't feel as great" on Monday after playing catch in Tampa, which led to the decision to send him for more testing.

Severino has not pitched off a mound since experiencing shoulder discomfort following a warm-up pitch before his first spring training start March 5. The Yankees initially shut him down for three weeks and scratched him from his Opening Day start. They had hoped he would be able to rejoin the rotation by mid-April, but general manager Brian Cashman later pushed that to around May 1.

Clearly, he won't return until after that point now.

About two hours before the findings of the MRI were announced, Boone said he believed in the Yankees' current pitchers in the event Severino's news wouldn't be too favorable.

"We've already seen a lot of quality pitchers step up for us," Boone said. "We've seen some young pitchers take more steps for us. So yeah, we feel like we're equipped to handle a lot of things."

Severino went 19-8 with a 3.39 ERA last season. Earlier this spring, he signed a four-year, $40 million contract extension.

Following Tuesday's game, the Yankees optioned one of Severino's early-season replacements, Jonathan Loaisiga. The 23-year-old struggled in his start in Houston on Tuesday, allowing two runs and four hits on 71 pitches in just three innings of work.

Loaisiga's issues came after he struck out George Springer, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman on 16 pitches in the first inning.

"You're seeing a young, talented pitcher that flashes it so much, and it's just sometimes a learning curve at the big league level," Boone said. "Sometimes, it's tough to make that final step. But everyone watching him can see how close he is and can see how dominant the stuff can be."

Prior to this start, Loaisiga was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in career starts in which he had pitched five or more innings. In the three career starts he had in which he had not made it past the fifth, Loaisiga had gone 0-0 with a 5.63 ERA.

The Yankees haven't yet named a corresponding move for Loaisiga's demotion. It's possible they will add a reliever to help their struggling bullpen for a couple of days before making another move that brings 19-year veteran CC Sabathia off the injured list and back onto the active roster.

Sabathia is expected to make his first start of the season back in New York this weekend.

One potential call-up with Severino still shelved is veteran Gio Gonzalez. The lefty had a strong outing at Triple-A on Tuesday, recording 10 strikeouts and allowing just three hits in six innings. After signing with the Yankees late in spring training, Gonzalez was sent to Triple-A to begin the season.