Thought it was an absolute awful interview and didn't accomplish anything she set out to do. Wanted to hear from her... until I did. Yikes! Going to try to address some of these disastrous quotes one at a time... I get she's NBA poor, but millionaires aren't going to get the sympathy of the every man. The Lakers bring in more revenue than any other team worldwide. I don't care about the luxury tax. My fear is she'll lean more into the some of the cheapness we've seen in recent years (coach contracts, AC, Stan's 10 day deals) especially if there's not a clear path to magically fix this disaster. If you're impatient, unhappy, and not satisfied that means someone is going to be held accountable for this... right? (Stay tuned, she's about to tell us) There's collaboration then there's madness. Let's run down the names in her ear: Rambis 1 and Rambis 2, Rob, Phil, Magic, Bron, Klutch, and her brothers. Overkill of the unqualified. Can't imagine how much of a s*** show those zoom calls are. If they're all telling you the same thing that's a problem and if they're not, how do you discern who's telling you what? If that's true, why are there 8 other people chiming in? This sounds like the same "confidence" Rob had in Vogel last summer when you knew he was a dead man walking. How is Rob going to be able to do his job with all this red tape? I'm not sure he can do his job well under ideal circumstances... this is far from that. Also this statement crosses him off the list of people you're holding accountable for last season at least until this time next year. He deserves no credit for coattail success. If this is how we perceive talent then let's bring in Isiah Thomas. He earned two rings. Around 28 years experience as a player, coach, and exec. Three years coaching in college. One year as a WNBA exec. Then 7 years-ish as a commentator and analyst. He's perfect! If she's impressed by Kurt's "basketball knowledge" we're f***ed. That's the lowest bar imaginable. Also cross another name of the accountability list. How can someone so smart be so dumb? The fact that she doesn't see this blindspot reaffirms our concerns. It's an issue because she is now married to the most powerful man in the Lakers front office. For 38 of those 40 years they've been bffs, that has not been the case. There's been reports she's been in some of these zoom calls with the coaches. No qualifications for that. Is she taking notes for Kurt during his bathroom break? More significant than that, she is always going to champion her husband and Linda's her closest confidante that's going to influence Jeanie. Even if she's only a member of the welcoming committee and then handled stuff on the business side (don't think it's that minimal), sure... every team has that. BUT THAT PERSON ISN'T MARRIED TO THE MOST POWERFUL PERSON IN THE TEAM'S FRONT OFFICE! (On Magic) If Lakers are important to him, he shouldn't try to s*** on us multiple times a year on a national stage. She shouldn't trust him. She shouldn't rely on him. He was awful at his job and poured gas on the bridge on his way out the door. "Heart" is the problem. She's operating based off that and not her head. Cross another name off the accountability list. (On Phil) One of the first quotes I'm ok with and actually believe Phil wants those things. As I've said I trust his opinion on the coaches more than anyone else in our cluster F of a Zoom Room. I am curious if his input is candidate based, fit based, roster based, goal based and are we capable of filtering his thoughts into covering all those bases. If he's only in on the coaching side, could lead to more lopsided off- season advice. Also is another cook in the kitchen who's not accountable. (On Bron) So you're still trying to keep him happy after he got us here with the Russ deal? Smart move. This also tells me we're in the Bron business for the long haul (not surprised). So we're not holding him accountable either? Got it. That's everyone. End of list. Really unfortunate. I think Jerry would rather see the Lakers succeed with his family controlling less of the team than control it and let this thing really get away from them.
He was not the previous GM so get your facts straight first of all. President of Basketball. "Who's this competent people you are referring to?" Just the ones that got us a championship, that's all. I strongly disagree with your view, fairweather fans always see the bad when things go awry and forget the good. You think you can do better? Hahahaha. Typical. You pretend you understand how things are run in the organization, truth is you have no idea if you think she is really important in the basketball decisions. Sure she is consulted and made to feel part of the process but if you really think she is making basketball calls ah......mmkay nuff said. She WILL bring together Phil, Rob, Kurt, Magic and whoever else and let them deliberate but that is the extent of it. She does NOT make basketball decisions. She agrees with them.
i'm struggling to see any positive from that interview, sorry if that makes me like lakersground or whatever. nothing said indicates that positive change is likely, and change is definitely necessary. i won't repeat my earlier arguments, but she didn't change my mind on any of them and doubled down on a lot of troubling stuff.
Meh..much ado about nothing..A healthy James and Davis cures just about everything. We won a recent chip, with these exact same "issues".
Not exactly. We had a coach. We didn't have a Russ. We had a roster. We had movable assets. We hadn't yet fully embraced penny pinch mode. And Kurt hadn't fully set up shop yet. His boxes were in the office, but he hadn't unpacked and embraced his role as a blood sucking parasite just yet.
I’m with slick I think in any year we can find plenty of negatives; the bubble season came off the back of magic burning his way out of the franchise, tons of hate at moving all our assets for AD, getting burnt by Kawhi and PG, having nothing to surround Lebron and AD, an unproven GM, a coach who was our third choice. The list goes on. The truth is winning cures all and losing accentuates every crack.
Good points for sure. I just wonder if the right moves can be made this off-season to maximize Lebron’s window. There is so much work to do and I wonder what direction they are headed in terms of HC. There really do seem to be lot of cooks in the kitchen and it’s worrisome. I see Kurt and Phil being on one side of things and Rob maybe on another from all of the leaks that have come out.
It’s not the AMOUNT of cooks in the kitchen, it’s the lack of skill, pedigree, knowledge, and resume of the cooks. I bet if you switched out the Rambii and Magic with the Scouting Department Crew, things would be much different.
I agree with that. Sounds like they aren't on the same page either so its a bunch of competing voices instead of a team working together.
it's both, imo. again, it would be different if the accountability structure matched the input/power structure. but it doesn't. she laid stuff at rob's feet while basically saying that kurt is the shadow president and folks that aren't even employed by the organization have major influence. that's just terrible. and she said it herself within the same brief conversation.
Seriously …. “This” TWICE to what @pika1708 said below? Toking too much messing with both your short term memories? Was only 3 years ago. As @Alcindor even corrected before your hearty agreement … Magic wasn’t the GM and he wasn’t fired. He quit. Am picking nits here but pretty huge nits. (with caveat I have problem too after what Johnson did and the malice with which he did it that Jeanie still consults with him. Phil … not so much)
The turnaround happened starting in 2017 when Jim, Mitch and their influences were gone. Our franchise can only turnaround if Jeanie is gone. I expect some dark times ahead for us in the meantime
Too much speaking in negative absolutes about Jeanie IMO. LeBron and AD’s injuries not her fault and if they are healthier during the season next year and going into the playoffs, with whatever team we have without Brick (looking at you Rob) …. all this she has to go, she has to sell will take a back seat to other issues. Especially LUCK with health. ALWAYS a crap shoot with s*** happens injuries for EVERY team.
In your own statement here you show how short Laker fan memories are. Jeanie Buss is why Mitch and Jim's influences are gone. 2 seasons later, we have a championship. Hit on some hard times, yes, can't beat on Jeanie for injuries and her FO making some poor roster guesses, only if they continue that and she continues to employ them but we still have 2 of the top 10 players if AD stays healthy. Worst case we have still-prime AD, hopefully developing (or traded) THT and 74 mil in cap space in a year. That's not so rough.
It wasn’t for Pika’s first paragraph. I’m well aware what happened with Magic. The double “This” was for everything after the first paragraph. Relax. Btw, I left the weed behind at college, over 20 years ago, but nice try at a slight.
