Magic Johnson Sweet 16 celebration: Adam Lefkoe trolls NBA legend over long Michigan State tweet

Magic Johnson can’t ever win in the social media realm. The NBA Hall of Famer is usually derided on social media for his boring, states-the-obvious brand of posting. Often, his short and simple style draws ire for being bland analysis.

On Saturday, it was the length of his tweet that drew some light-hearted trolling. Inside March Madness studio host Adam Lefkoe had no time for the former Los Angeles Lakers point guard’s lengthy social media celebration of Michigan State‘s Sweet 16 berth.

Johnson, a fixture in March Madness himself by way of the popular Capital One commercials alongside Charles Barkley and Samuel L. Jackson, sent congratulations to his alma mater. Lefkoe’s producers may or may not have wanted him to read the post to cap off a segment on Tom Izzo. But as it flashed on the screen, Lefkoe refused. Instead, he opted to jab Johnson’s social media skills once more.

“Apparently, Magic Johnson released a novel on X tonight, and I’m sure it’s great,” the host said. “But, I’m going to do a Twitter thing and say, ‘That’s great. Either congratulations or I’m sorry.’ But I can’t read all that on national television. I think he’s really excited for Michigan State, is what I think he was saying there.”

Magic Johnson celebrates Michigan State

So what did the Michigan State legend’s tweet actually say?

“I just finished watching my Michigan State Spartans defeat Louisville 77-69,” Johnson said on X formerly known as Twitter. “I believe Jeremy Fears Jr. is the best PG in America, and today he scored 12 points and 16 assists to record the most assists in Michigan State’s history in the NCAA tournament!

“Coen Carr had his first career double-double scoring 21 points and 10 assists. MSU’s bench came up big with 21 total points, led by Trey Fort who had 12. The Spartans advance to the Sweet Sixteen!”

The post certainly breaks the normal character limit to which many are accustomed, but five sentences is hardly novel length. Still, Lefkoe continued his fun.

“I think he audio recorded and then was just like, ‘just publish it.’ You can go back and hit pause and read it. I just don’t have time to. Love you, Magic.”

The end of his joke caught analyst Jamal Mashburn‘s attention.

“No you don’t,” he quickly replied to Lefkoe’s assertion of love.

Lefkoe may, in fact, love Magic Johnson, the NBA legend, the entrepreneur, and March Madness commercial maker. But, he certainly doesn’t seem to love Magic Johnson, the tweeter. When it comes to social media, Johnson just can’t ever win for losing.