Magic Johnson claims he has no idea who the Lakers' next head coach will be ... but he definitely knows who it WON'T be -- Magic Johnson -- 'cause the Hall of Famer tells TMZ Sports those days are long gone.
The Purple and Gold are currently coach-less after parting ways with Darvin Ham following his second season at the helm ... and when we caught up with the legend last week, he didn't want to speculate on who could fill the seat he briefly held three decades back.
"I couldn't tell ya," Magic said when asked about the vacancy in Beverly Hills. "It's up to the Lakers and Jeanie [Buss] and Rob Pelinka. I hope they get a good one, though."
Remember, Magic had a cup of coffee as the Lakers' head coach ... taking over for Randy Pfund, and Bill Bertka toward the end of the 1994 season.
While things got off to a solid start, things fell apart and Magic announced he would resign from the position at the end of the season ... going 5-11 overall.
Magic would then return to playing for the Lakers ... and never coached again.
So, would the 64-year-old ever consider another shot at it?? Yeah, nope.
Or as Magic put it -- "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Thank you though."
Makes sense -- after all, Magic has been wildly successful off the court ... and his business ventures have now turned him into a billionaire.
Guess we can take Magic off the list ... but according to reports, there are other names out there -- including ESPN's JJ Redick.
We actually spoke with Matt Barnes about the former pro's chances in L.A. ... and he said he'd be a great fit -- so there's plenty of fish in the sea, Laker Nation!!