I would support Jeanie no matter what, but putting that aside. As much as I dislike Lebron on the Lakers it was a good business and basketball move to sign him since we did win a championship. Trading for AD was a big risk but it also paid off. It is unfortunate they can't stay healthy. That championship may have come at a price of years of heartache. The biggest mistake that has been made was giving Lebron and AD too much power. The Russ trade was a disaster, I don't think anyone could have predicted Russ would be as bad as he was, but the injuries to AD and Lebron are what ended our season. There is no way to paint the decision to not keep Alex as anything but terrible. I am encouraged by the amount of good young talent we found considering no draft picks. I know making a good coaching hire would help us all feel better about next season and about management. I think success this coming season depends on three things: One is the coaching hire, two is the health of Lebron and AD and the third is Lebron's attitude, is he coming in to win a championship or is he strictly chasing Kareem.
I think you're over reading and probably projecting. I have no hate for Jeanie whatsoever. I don't think she's awful or anything like that. I just think she's not good for the job in the biggest franchise of the league. It baffles me to see people complaining that other teams have advantages towards us when we are the franchise all the others would like to be. We have the rings, a crazy amount of history and in an unbelievable market with Hollywood at the door. We have the perfect context to be the bully in the league and possibly the most dominant franchise of any sport, I don't see any downside in our context to not be dominant. As for Jeanie, she was lucky LeBron joined. He had already decided he wanted to be in LA to launch Space Jam. Then everything else like AD and the ring comes from there. I'm not a guy who gives everyone credit when an organization wins (nor blame everyone when losing). In my analysis, I don't think Jeanie had that much impact in that title. She happened to be the owner when Lebron's window opened. I may give her credit for not blowing it off maybe? Then, her reliance on Rambis is unseen. How can a guy have so much power in an organization without having the responsibility? When things go bad he's never to blame, ever thought that? Then relying on Magic is striking again. Is there still questions that the guy is unfit for any management position? He was terrible making decisions, he gets sacked and we still consult him. God. Then, all the nepotism around our organization, that's just not good for such a powerful organization. Our inability to adapt to the modern NBA and reliance on data analytics. Being cheap in this market when you have a 2y window with LeBron/AD. Do I need to continue? I honestly believe that we are one of the easiest franchises to manage. We should have the best players, best coaches, best analysts, best physios, best scouts, best everything in the league. If we are competent and successful, everyone would want to play and work in the Lakers. Our biggest downside is being too big and generating hate from other franchises that can impact us in moves, media and PR management, but that's a good problem I would like to have. Bottom line is her family owns this franchise. So I'm not seeing them selling. But I'm definitely advocating to have someone more prepared to run the business as a proper organization
yeah, re: rambis--either you're in charge or you're not. but this shadow president stuff is super problematic. he can't be fired, yet he gets to tell the coach to play deandre jordan? no other organization has such a "role". it's unprofessional, tbh. if i were rob, i'd be pissed.
She had an interview with Plaschke https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/story/2022-05-10/jeanie-buss-lakers-change
She sounds bad, losing confidence. And her continued reliance on Magic is baffling after the moves he made on the way out (Zu for Muscala) and then s*** on the whole front office, as is her reliance on Phil who has been out of touch for a decade.
Her interview didn’t surprise me. She isn’t going to sell the team and is committed to doing things her way. Gotta hope at some point she realizes there are just too many cooks in the kitchen right now.
I'm not sure who you are targeting. For example, I'm probably the least woke person here, and I don't care about her youthful indiscretions. But, Jeanie has shown she is in over her head. The reliance on Linda, Kurt, Magic and Phil are all indicators. IF Linda is only advising her on business issues, it would be less troublesome, but there are credible reports that Linda leaks over into the basketball decisions in spite of what Jeanie claims. She leans on Kurt because he was a good player and had success as an assistant to Phil. None of that has ANY bearing on his qualification to function as the #1 voice in the organization. Magic was a complete disaster as team president except for the LeBron signing. Phil royally messed up the Knicks FO. It's a clown show. She needs to hire a real and qualified Team President. Then she needs to step back and take her friends with her. If she were to do that, I would totally support her as owner.
Calling owners of teams governors is in the top 5 dummiest changes I've seen in this p**** a** PC generation BS.
I don't think you credit Jeanie enough. She knows where to delegate and who to get advice from. Compare her to The Knick's Jim Nolan, in the NBA's biggest market and they have been to the playoffs (barely) 5 times in 22 years, 4 1st round exits and one 2nd. Terrible seedings. As for nepotism? Seriously? It took her 3 years to stamp out her own brother and it only took that long because it was her father's dying wish that he succeeds at this. She wanted to can him earlier and she said so. As for the other two, Jesse has been great in the asst GM position and scouting and Joey running the South Bay Lakers. Both have a hand in the excellent scouting department. Jeanie's big jobs are advertising and TV and celebrities and keeping the Laker brand what it is. She was lucky Lebron wanted to come here? He wanted to come here because of who was here. If it was because of our market then why didn't he want to go to the Knicks and be with Jim Dolan in the biggest NBA market? He specifically asked people (like Kobe) about Jeanie and how she ran things before coming over. In fact it was Kobe who told her to clean it up (the situation in the FO with Mitch and Jimmy) when she told Kobe she wanted to pursue Lebron. He said you need to handle that first so she did. So she gets advice from good people and she delegates to competent people. No, she doesn't know who our prospects for point guard our next year, it's not what she does. All Jeanie can do is get the best people she can to run things and replace as and when needed.
Yeah... I am going to put Magic and Rambii into the "no she doesn't ask the right people" category. Magic GM and coaching record and opinions are simplistic at best. Kurt and Linda are great at cheese & wine parties, I guess. BTW, with all my reverence for Kobe (and it is WELL documented here) -- he was quite ... nonchalant in his endorsements of players, like Haren or Westbrick, to name a few, so he was hit & miss as well.
I’ve been expecting us to pull back on the spending for a little while. The truth is even the best teams in the best markets can’t run excessive luxury tax for long without outside help. That’s where rich owners come in and can build a competitive edge by overspending what should be technically possible. European football (soccer) has combated this by financial fair play rules where teams have to balance their books. I wonder if we get a similar system in the future.
agree. when is she going to do this? because kurt ain't it. just sort of doubling down on all the stuff that's had me worried. she's not going to fire her friends, and that's who needs to go. she's not going to be able to compete financially with brooklyn, golden state, and the clippers. alcindor mentioned the knicks as a comparison above, and that's where we were headed pre-lebron and where we're heading post-lebron as it stands.
I don't agree she knows how to delegate when we have our previous GM, who was fired, having a say. Have you ever seen that in any organization? There's a reason he was fired. He came here because Hollywood. And legacy. If you know and hear LeBron, you see he's all about legacy. We were a bad team at the time, he just saw the opportunity and assets he could use to build a championship team (trade for AD). We were lucky, there was no plan whatsoever and if you remember we had multiple years with free agents not even talking to us. Or when we had one of the worst pitches, I think with LaMarcus (?). Our resistance to data analytics is unseen on such a powerful organization, it set us back many years against competition. That's because we are run as a family business, and haven't adapt well to modern NBA. Who's this competent people you are referring to? I strongly disagree with your view. I'm not against her as a owner (well I am when she's cheap), I'm just against her being part of the decision making. We should have someone more qualified in her position calling the shots. Not run it like it's a family business. She can handle marketing and what not if she wants. If we have better people managing the franchise like it should, I could live with her as an owner. If anything, this interview shows how unfit she is for a brand like the Lakers
i'm against her as an owner simply because we don't/can't compete with the top dogs financially despite being the obvious crown jewel (for now) of the league. an investment group with a near unlimited spending structure that just poached the best prez/gms (ujiri, for instance) and let them run the show would have us in the driver's seat at all times, imo. again, jeanie seems like a good person who's fully invested in the lakers, which is great. but dolan (who isn't a good person it seems) is also fully invested in the knicks's success. it takes more than that.
The main problem is the league is evolving and we're being left behind. We constantly rely on our namesake and history to carve out our success but that won't cut it anymore these days. You have teams who's owners have deep pockets, willing to constantly pay the luxury tax to compete for a ring. You have teams hiring the best people for front office positions and coaching staffs. We have an owner running the team like a small business, filling out the front office with friends and family. I had hope Jeanie would realize the problems early and set about fixing them this off season but like abeer said, she doubled down on everything. Instead of hiring a firm to speacilize in the coaching search she goes back to Magic and Phil for advice. Kurt staying at his ambiguous position of right hand man/best friend's husband. Personally, a lot rides on this coaching hire and the process that goes into it. So far it's been a mixed bag.
Jeanie is relying on successful people, sure, but they are dinosaurs in today’s NBA. That isn’t a comment on age, it’s a comment on mentality and approach. Pat Riley isn’t young, Jerry West isn’t young, both are still sharp as ever and are valued for what they bring. Magic has basic basketball takes at best, Phil suuuuuucked as a front office guy, Kurt’s only success came UNDER Phil and he’s never been good at anything on his own. She’s got the money and the franchise the top people in the game would I’m sure be thrilled to work for, to turn us around and put their stamp on making the Lakers THE franchise again, and yet she doesn’t employ those people, she surrounds herself by former greats, with little to no connection to today’s game. And that’s why she fails, LeBron got us that 2020 title, and when he’s gone we are screwed with things as-is. If and when this season fails, Rob will be fired as the scapegoat and probably Kurt, Phil and Magic will take over, and yes, we will be the Knicks West.
I agree with what everyone has said, not a good look to still listen to people like Magic. Kurt and Linda. You can tell she is also banking on the Lakers name and history ( she needs to look at the Yankees and see how's that working) Is she wrong about payroll statement? The team underperformed like crazy and missed the playoffs. AD, Lebron and Russ are paid like superstars but their impact and play on the court said otherwise. Lets face it all 3 Big Stars under delivered like crazy. They're getting paid the big bucks and a ton of salary allotted to them and they simply didn't get the job done.
