Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson is at it again, criticizing the Purple and Gold management for what has been a nightmarish run for the proud franchise the past two seasons. And this time, he directed his ire straight at head coach Mike D'Antoni.

Johnson, who steered the Lakers to five world championships back in the 80s, believes D'Antoni is orchestrating the same pick-and-roll plays all over again while not making an effort to improve the team's defense.

"He don't teach defense," Johnson said in an interview with Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show," according to The Los Angeles Times. "I can't stand to watch the Lakers play because the same play happens every single time on the Lakers -- pick and roll and the guard goes all the way in for a layup.

"What are we, 40-something games into the season? The teams run the same play on us. We haven't stopped it yet. Uh, duh," he said.

The Lakers (19-30) are currently 14 games below .500 and having one of the worst defenses in the league (106 allowed points per game) proved to be one of the reasons for their struggles this season.

Johnson stressed that his gripes with D'Antoni aren't personal, but he said he believes the franchise needs a championship-caliber coach to get them back into title contention. Moreover, he added the Lakers front office made a "critical mistake" in not getting 11-time NBA champion coach Phil Jackson back on the bench.

"Coach D'Antoni, I like him when he was with Phoenix," Johnson said. "We're the Lakers. We've got to have a championship coach. We made a critical mistake in not bringing Phil Jackson back."

"We have to make sure we're headed in a championship direction because none of those guys are going to come here if we're not about winning a championship. And the Lakers have always been about winning a championship, so I hope they get back on course," he added.

Midway into the 2013-14 season, the Lakers haven't made a major move so far despite seeing their playoff hopes slipping away. Pau Gasol, who will become an unrestricted free agent after this season, remains the Lakers biggest trade chip, but most teams aren't aggressive enough to get the finesse-type Spaniard.