Ultimately they responded by winning 5 championships, so I think we'll be alright if that happens. Nothing wrong with preferential treatment when it's deserved.
I didn't know where else to post this but I emplore everyone to listen to this interview. This is an incredibly deep exploration of a lot of topics only people deep in the Lakers organisation would know... Again... if you're a Lakers fan, this is a must listen!!! Tania Ganguli of the LA Times reveals a lot about why Magic was hired, and how it all went down with the Buss kids. And then the bomb I never heard until now... Magic and Rob had been trying to trade D'Angelo Russell for a long time before they actually found a taker in Brooklyn! If you're still mad they traded Dlo to Brooklyn you should really listen to this. So much insight on what the FO was thinking. I'm in the middle of listening to it for a second time
It was a good listen, but I still don't get a good sense of why Russ was traded from this honestly. They wanted to see how he responded to adversity so they benched him. They wanted to see how he'd respond at the 2 so they played him there, and supposedly he didn't respond well. That's not really ow I remember it, I thought he finished out the season pretty strong, and that was a lot of pressure to keep poking and prodding a 20 year old with. And once again the Nick Young incident comes up. I guess it's way more important in pro sports culture than some of us regular people can understand, but I do not see how that could still be a real issue at this point. Oh well, it's over and done with, she is correct that shedding the Moz deal was big, and I do shudder to think what a Ball/Russ backcourt would have been defensively. Still not getting a good enough answer for why Magic and Rob wanted him out of here so bad though, there have to be some real nightmare stories we aren't hearing or something.
I don't think it would be very professional of Magic or Rob if they got any more direct than they have been. I think Magic and Rob haven't spilled the specific beans yet because they aren't a******* who want to ruin Dlo's career. They just don't think he's got the right attitude to want on the team. You know how you meet someone, get to know them, and you get a sense of who they are and what qualities, positive and negative, they have? Well unless they do something egregious, it's their overall actions and watching them day to day that give you that impression. I doubt there was one or two things that made Magic and Rob think Dlo wasn't someone they wanted to move ahead with, so if people want examples, anything they give would seem trivial because it's the over all body of work, and character that made them want to trade him. Note, these are just examples, I'm not saying he literally did these... for example, he might have played well in the second half of the season, but complained about being benched before that and they felt he felt entitled. Or he kept saying he wanted the season to be over so he could relax for the summer. Remember when Nick VanExel was traded? He was a really good player. Young, and on the rise. Then he decided it was funny to chant "Cancun" instead of break during halftime of that playoff game (If I remember the details right). Imagine how perplexed and mad the fan base would have been if it hadn't gotten out that he said "Cancun", but it did get out, and most people understood why that wasn't to be tolerated. We keep hearing vague rumors about Dlo's leadership and character issues, so it seems like Dlo had VanExel level character problems, but there wasn't a "Cancun" moment they want to share as of yet.
LakersBall's own D-Fish Man came in here before all this went down and very true to some inside source he had in or from someone who knew someone from the organization .... and would not give up specifics but did say that there was something about DLo or that DLo was doing, which was NOT illegal but WAS something you just don't want around your team. In the eyes of the Lakers. All this seems to confirm that.
Luke Walton's comments on Russell were pretty much perfect and all class. They should be the final words on Russell's time as a Laker to be honest. I was as a big a supporter of Russell as anyone but the trade is done and it's time to really turn the page on it.
Luke seems to be the kind of guy that will always have a positive spin on things he says, and won't be baited into bad sound bites with poor choices of words. Magic on the other hand......
The worst we've seen Luke kind of fumble for words and look perplexed was when he was fielding questions after a game soon after DLo had been benched for a short period. Again. Last year. This was soon after the rolling the ball up the floor and then stumbling like a drunk and kicking it out of bounds while trying to pick it up play. He literally backpedaled and gave very un Luke like answers. Now this most likely was him not wanting to say anything about it (most likely) being Magic's call to bench him, but may also have been some of him not wanting to go public with any comments on Russell's mentality that was bugging him.
I thought it was an interesting read on the Lakers (flawed) FO/coaching recruiting process https://docs.google.com/document/d/13D6KSvQp2gufHPQTbbZmr1pfzL6p86V-m1Pzjezdhlw/edit
This "kid" is not even out of college and he is giving a bad grade to how the Lakers are now functioning under Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka, or he has a problem with Luke's window of opportunity hiring that Jim and Mitch did without going through some 10 other interviews first? His perceptions rather, I think are flawed.
Finally got to this and agree it is a very worthwhile sit down and listen. A lot of you can tell accurate behind the scenes reporting from a very good reporter. I tried to tweet her real early in the season that I thought she was great and wish her well. Either I didn't do it right or she read the message and just didn't care, in which case f*** her! Kidding!!
A bunch of general information we already knew/read or guessed ... not sure what the hype is about this podcast
