Dear Magic,

You just can't walk away can you? This marks, if I'm not mistaken, your third NBA comeback -- twice as a player and once as a coach.

Your latest escapade is nothing more than a not-so-subtle ploy by your former team to fill seats. After all, your once proud Laker team has fallen on hard times.

The Lakers were always known as the NBA's greatest show. Movie stars sat courtside, and led by you and your non-stop enthusiasm, the Lakers and the NBA road your coattails to the top of the profesional sports world. Not even Ringling Brothers put on a better show.

But Showtime has become Slowtime. Randy proved he was no (P)fun(d), and Jack Nicholson is even an occasional no-show. The Lakers are not even the biggest show in town anymore. Dominique Wilkens and the Clippers are beginning to show signs of a pulse.

So what better way to bring the magic back to the Forum than to bring Magic back. This is nothing more than a promotional stunt. You let it slip yourself when you admitted that this might only be until the end of the season. Why would an owner hire a coach, without any thought of the long term? It isn't as though you can mold this team into a championship contender in the next 16 games. Unless you put on a uniform, you'll be lucky if this team even sees the postseason.

Don't expect miracles, Magic. Even after being out of the league for two years, you would still be the best player on the team. It's going to be frustrating for you to watch a game and see your players unable to make the plays you could make.

You might have been the best floor general in the history of the game, but leading a team from on the court is so much different than leading from the bench. You might have been the best player in history at executing a play, but can you design one?

On the court you could control the outcome. If the Lakers needed a clutch running hook in the lane --like they did against the Celtics in the championships -- you could deliver. If they needed a pass threaded through three defenders to a cutting James Worthy -- you could deliver. If the Lakers needed a burst of enthusiasm --you could deliver like no one else in the game.

But Magic, these Lakers are not the ones you led to five championships. Worthy is not the player he was five years ago, and not even Stevie Wonder could confuse Vlade Divac and Kareem. The Lakers are going though what every sports franchise has to endure -- that dreaded 'rebuilding' word. What the Lakers need is a long-term plan. Quick fixes don't win championships, quick fixes fill seats -- for a while.

Maybe you need to try coaching, more than the Lakers need you to. Maybe you need proof of your coaching ability.

It's admirable the courage you have shown in fighting your disease. Never have I heard you say you can't do something because of it. But Magic, when your disease finally overcomes you, I would like to remember you for the smiling, the no-look passes and the clutch jumpers.

It's time to walk away from the court. You could probably do the Lakers more good working in their front office than you can on the bench.

This team has potential. Nick Van Exel is a budding star, Doug Christie has shown some signs and a high draft pick this year is all but assured, but champions are not made overnight. So when you walk away at the end of this season, the Lakers will not be a better team. They will be just another young team looking for its identity.

The only experience you have as a head coach is coaching a team on the MTV Rock & Jock B-Ball challenge. That probably isn't the same as coaching an NBA team.

But then again, your MTV team probably had a better chance of winning than the Lakers.