Few yrs back during the Jimbob era some poster made legit gripe that fingers needed to be pointed Jeannie way as well for where we were at the time and I really didnt put to much thought into that. Well 2yrs post jimbob/mitch and we're still same spot we were then as far as winning goes. I feel now those gripes n finger pointing at Jeannie is deserving now. I can overlook the fact she admitted to firing Jim far to late but its family, dont matter if youre running a 100k business or a billion dollar business, you take care of family. However my personal feeling towards her business decision has changed. I feel a lot of her decisions have been more from her heart than actual analytical thinking and comprehensive research. Main gripe with that criticism is the rob/magic hiring. Its debatable whether that is going to work out or not but in Magic case its looking worse n worse as time passes (even if he gets a 2nd max i still have my doubts about his abilities to assemble a cohesive team). However my issue with that hiring is the same one I had with Jim/mitch hiring of Brown. In both instance, I feel like decision was made in the spur of the moment without a 2nd thought as to other candidates. Obviously we dont all know the behind closed doors that went on with Magic hiring but feels like Magic goated Jeannie into hiring him with his unlimited access to her and obviously his goatness as a laker. This is purely my own opinion, so feel free to educate me and show me Im wrong.....
Jeanie's primary focus is marketing/branding. Without star players, it's hard to sell the Lakers' brand. Especially in LA with favorable weather all year round. If the Lakers aren't winning or offering star attractions, people have other places to go and visit. That's why Jeanie and the organization offered Kobe that huge contract in his last years. He brings people into the arena even when he's not the same Kobe he was before the achilles injury. Magic also understands branding, not only as a player, but as a businessman with investments in multiple enterprises. Jeanie and Magic are like-minded people as well as friends IMO. That's why she chose him. That's why we're trying to lure stars to the Lakers by any means necessary. Is bringing a bunch of stars with recognizable names the best way to form a championship team? Not necessarily, but it's a way to sell tickets. We brought Shaq in for that purpose, then blew up the 90's Lakeshow squad after Staples Center was built. Without Shaq and Kobe, Staples Center doesn't get built at all. We constructed a championship team with Phil at the helm afterwards. I was expecting this team to be a new iteration of the 90's Lakeshow squad. Before the injuries, we generally resembled that kind of team. Good enough to make it to the playoffs and make some noise. But not good enough to win a championship.
If as an owner your primary goal is branding/marketing, then you should not be an owner, your brand enhances when you are winning and not the other way round.
Winning is enough if you're a small-market team like the Utah Jazz. There are no other major league sports teams in Salt Lake City. There aren't major theme parks, beaches, or other attractions out there. The weather is brutal during the winter, so nobody wants to go outside. So winning is enough to attract Salt Lake City residents to watch the Jazz play at home or at the arena. Here in LA, the Dodgers are going to World Series, and the Rams are a Super Bowl team. There are theme parks, beaches, and favorable weather year-round. The Lakers' need more than just winning to attract people to see the team.
Well I don’t believe that, as when we had our garbage teams that were tanking we still had 95% attendance home and away.
i'll spell her name right when she wins!! seriously, though. firing your own brother and then somehow being even less successful isn't a great look. do better.
that was her primary focus but since she fired Jim and hired Magic on the spot while not even doing any due diligence with possible other candidates, she should squarely shoulder the blame as an exec if Magic fails
While I don't agree with certain posters here that Magic has done a good job thus far, I am not on the other end of the Spectrum where everyone needs to be brought out behind the shed and shot just 2 years post Bupchak. Jeannie hired Magic and Rob to get us winning again. Lebron was coming so long as Bupchak wasn't here,IMO, so they don't get credit there. They cleared up our books for the most part, but at a great cost. In the end though, I don't like to sit around and point fingers at Jeanne mainly because there's nothing we can really do about it. She is the controlling owner. I'm a Cowboys fan, and I learned to stop b****ing about Jerry Jones years ago because it's just part of the team. It can't be changed.
In my opinion, none of this really matters until after this summer. I want to see if Magic & Rob can bring that second star here and how many "kids" are going to stay. I mean, we knew that signing people like Lance & Co. was a stopgap, so to speak, so let's see what the management can do to right the ship and really compete. Sure, we are all disappointed right now, but realistically the vast majority of posters here counted on making the playoffs as a 6th seed and eventually losing, so we knew this wasn't a contender in the first place. I will be happy to discuss this more this summer, but it's to early to give anyone any grades that are not I(ncomplete).
Oh ye of little faith. Jeannie is in charge for good reason. Jerry Buss wanted her to be in this position and wanted to keep this a family run organization. She did the tough thing firing her brother who sucked. I think she did the right thing brining in Magic and Rob. They got Lebron here and made the franchise nationally relevant again. Let's see what else they can do this summer and beyond.
I do have little faith from what I've seen from Magic...I'm not criticizing the hire per se, I'm just more worried that Jeanie makes decision based on her feelings rather than brain. If you want to revitalize a prestigious franchise like our Lakers, are you really going to entrust that job on a guy with no prior experience? Yes Magic is a great business man, but running an NBA team is different than running a business and so far most of his moves have blown up in our faces.
Well said Rev. I agree with this unpopular opinion. I posted in another thread that I don't think we expected to be this bad - Jeanie/Magic/Rob did expect star #2 to be on the roster in July 2018, but it didn't work that way. To your point - either way seats are filled at Staples and the Lakers make headlines daily. Ticket prices went up this season and people are paying top dollar to watch a 30 win team...with Lebron James. IMO the only way Magic/Rob/Jeanie "messed up" is via the following: They KNEW they could've had PG and Kawahi (or another 2nd star) and instead chose 1 player, LeBron We flounder completely this summer with FAs and/or trade all/most of our young talent for anything that doesn't make us a contender
I have to say I don't believe at all that Jeannie makes decisions based on her feelings rather than her brain. I don't see evidence of that and really it sounds a bit misogynistic. Firing her brother wasn't based on feelings it was based on him wrecking the Lakers. She did a good job on that. Hiring Magic made a great deal of sense. He was a part of the ownership here as per her father and he has done a nice job as part of the ownership group of the Dodgers. I don't agree with you that most of Magic's move have blown up in our faces either. I'm going to wait and see what happens after the summer before I do a hard critique of the FO's effectiveness. If they fail this summer with attracting a top tier FA, fail again with a trade for AD, put in a terrible coach and we are no better than this year, then sure, I'll be ripping on them too. But personally, I'm nowhere near that. Without injuries this was a playoff team and probably a tough out in the first round, with a possibility for a second round appearance. We got decimated by the injury bug. Worst I've seen.
I dont credit Magic for any of the Dodgers turn around, to me he was always just a "figure head" someone to bring a spot light too the new ownership. I dont think he had a hand in any of the personnel moves....Jeanie hiring of Magic is no different than Jim hiring of Brown and I stand by that comment.
Genie Buss will take over the Rob and Magic's roles, and will also begin coaching next season in place of Luke. Goin straight to the playoffs next year folks
