Magic once again calls for Jeanie to fire Jim

[N3LL]

Funny how Magic and the rest if the Showtime Cartel won't call out their boy Scotf lol.

[stan francisco]

Logo Jr is the best we can hope for as GM when Jim steps aside and lets Mitch be the next him.

I agree w Magic in this case, but I'd prefer it if all I saw from him was highlights from the 80s. He's not very smart outside the court. He makes good dough on Starbucks stores etc, but he's not too bright, shouldn't speak out so much.

[Slava]

My annoyance with this situation is the fact that Jim is the lame duck who everyone can blame due to the past success. It's the exact same stupidity as when a president is directly blamed for the economy being bad. He inherited a team in decline from its best years as well as an organization that got royally screwed by the new cba. No president or GM could have done anything to get this team to the playoff in the last few years. There simply was no means for it. The only thing i can actually put blame on him (outside the Byron hire) for is the Kobe contract but even that seems to have been influenced and supported more by his sister. Not that i'm saying, i want him going forward as the vp of basketball operations. I'm more comfortable with someone that has had experience in the field and seems to have an acute interest in the actual game. I'm just not going to blame someone who inherited a situation that was only going to head in one direction for years to come because it's the simple and easy thing to do.

The Nick Young contract, the Lou Williams contract, letting Ed Davis walk, the Sasha and Luke contracts that each took a pick to dump, the failure to adequately protect the picks dealt for Nash, the free agency pitch failures to Aldridge, Melo, Monroe an whoever else we've been chasing over the past couple years, being ranked dead last in ESPN front office rankings, surely some of that crap storm has to register on Jim right?

Both him and Mitch can do one thing very well, which is swing big trades when they have assets and they can find value in drafts, which is about it. There's big gaps in the franchise when it comes to basketball operations and that can't be explained by the CP3 veto, CBA or Kobe contract.

If we're going to immediately place the blame on him for these moves, what's the point of having a GM at that point? Not to mention the Nash move was still in large part influenced by Dr. Buss. As for FA pitches, i still feel like the extracurricular had more to do with the type of influence Jeanie would have than Mitch or Jim especially when you consider the TWC influence aspect (to be clearer the business aspect is being put forth first over the actual on basketball court aspect).

You can't separate Mitch from Jim and vice versa as they both took their respective positions at the same time. Technically speaking Jim is Mitch's boss as the president of basketball ops has power over the GM, so if Jim is claiming the credit for 4 titles since Jerry left, he also has to shoulder the blame for what got us here today.

Regarding the free agency process, Aldridge specifically complained that the basketball side of the pitch was very short and not on point and it hurt so much PR wise that they ended up begging him for a second meeting. That's the biggest insult on this franchise yet.

[gts1]

According to Ireland there's people within the organization who think Byron should be given another year. Whether that's Mitch, Jim, or both, whoever holds that belief has to go, IMO.

probably Jeanie and Magic...

Funny how Magic has totally ignored Byron's record as a coach when he was on D'Antoni daily.

but I get it... By chiming in on the Lakers situation nobody asks him why 80% of the people in LA can't watch the Dodgers on TV or why they let one of the best pitchers in baseball walk or despite the highest payroll in baseball the can't even make the NLCS

[gts1]

My annoyance with this situation is the fact that Jim is the lame duck who everyone can blame due to the past success. It's the exact same stupidity as when a president is directly blamed for the economy being bad. He inherited a team in decline from its best years as well as an organization that got royally screwed by the new cba. No president or GM could have done anything to get this team to the playoff in the last few years. There simply was no means for it. The only thing i can actually put blame on him (outside the Byron hire) for is the Kobe contract but even that seems to have been influenced and supported more by his sister. Not that i'm saying, i want him going forward as the vp of basketball operations. I'm more comfortable with someone that has had experience in the field and seems to have an acute interest in the actual game. I'm just not going to blame someone who inherited a situation that was only going to head in one direction for years to come because it's the simple and easy thing to do.

The Nick Young contract, the Lou Williams contract, letting Ed Davis walk, the Sasha and Luke contracts that each took a pick to dump, the failure to adequately protect the picks dealt for Nash, the free agency pitch failures to Aldridge, Melo, Monroe an whoever else we've been chasing over the past couple years, being ranked dead last in ESPN front office rankings, surely some of that crap storm has to register on Jim right?

Both him and Mitch can do one thing very well, which is swing big trades when they have assets and they can find value in drafts, which is about it. There's big gaps in the franchise when it comes to basketball operations and that can't be explained by the CP3 veto, CBA or Kobe contract.

If we're going to immediately place the blame on him for these moves, what's the point of having a GM at that point? Not to mention the Nash move was still in large part influenced by Dr. Buss. As for FA pitches, i still feel like the extracurricular had more to do with the type of influence Jeanie would have than Mitch or Jim especially when you consider the TWC influence aspect (to be clearer the business aspect is being put forth first over the actual on basketball court aspect).

And if we're going to go back far enough to blame the Sasha and Luke contacts on Jim Buss then we better give him some of the credit for two NBA titles.... Can't point out the one without acknowledging the other

The Kobe contract was every bit as much a Jeanie Buss doing as anyone, she wanted to capitalize on the Kobe retirement because that feeds her end of the business more than it does the on court end of things but that's something folks ignore because it doesn't feed their bias's

And I'll add I hate the Dr. Buss comparison people too, (like Petros did the other day) because Dr Buss never had to deal with a CBA that his wallet couldn't fix... The rules now are so glaringly different that to compare the two situations is apples and oranges... For Dr. Buss need a big name buy him or make the trade and absorb the taxes at worst, for the FO today it's nowhere near as simple and in same case flat out against the rules or if you do make that move it cripples you financially for the next 5 years

As for Ed Davis.. meh, he didn't want to wait an extra couple days so he went with Portland, said so himself

“They wanted me to come back,” Davis said of the Lakers in a phone interview with Los Angeles News Group. “But I felt like this was the right decision for me. I didn’t really want to wait around. I was comfortable with everything there. I wanted to go back. Nothing went bad or anything.”

Can't blame that on anyone but Davis himself, he's a role player at best, Stars go first in free agency and role players fall in line.. only reason Portland made the move was because they lost Aldridge and didn't have enough money to go after a big name guy

[SlimShady83]

Next off season going to be fun one for once.

- The fire of B. Scott
- Top 3 pic
- Signing of 1 or 2 major FA's
- Bye Bye Jim
- Hello Walton as coach or thibs

going to be fun.

[TylersLakers]

Is there any chance this "bring back Jerry West" movement could ever work? Guys keep saying it as if there's a possibility it could happen.

You offer him a 10% stake in the Lakers, make his son the GM and he might come on as president of basketball ops.

Where do I sign up for this? Tell Jerry don't forget to pick up Luke along the way.

Yup, that would be a big time power move.

[Hector_Reyes_8]

We gotta put Jim and Scott on a spike a la Ned Stark.

[crazyeights]

Would you rather have Scott out and hire a competent coach this summer OR Jim out and have a new FO hierarchy?

[Slava]

Would you rather have Scott out and hire a competent coach this summer OR Jim out and have a new FO hierarchy?

A competent basketball hierarchy would start with dismissing Scott sooner than later if not immediately, so I'd choose option 2.

[gts1]

Is there any chance this "bring back Jerry West" movement could ever work? Guys keep saying it as if there's a possibility it could happen.

You offer him a 10% stake in the Lakers, make his son the GM and he might come on as president of basketball ops.

I would be SHOCKED if Jerry West ever came back to the Lakers in any capacity as long as Jeanie is in a position of power and is attached to Phil. The divide between West and Jackson was what drove him away, and as long as Jeanie is in power and with Phil, the faintest threat of Phil being brought on is probably reason enough to keep Logo away.

I've actually wondered if Phil being brought back into the fold would effect Ryan West staying with the Lakers... How deep does that divide go?

[LApwnd]

According to Ireland there's people within the organization who think Byron should be given another year. Whether that's Mitch, Jim, or both, whoever holds that belief has to go, IMO.

probably Jeanie and Magic...

Funny how Magic has totally ignored Byron's record as a coach when he was on D'Antoni daily.

but I get it... By chiming in on the Lakers situation nobody asks him why 80% of the people in LA can't watch the Dodgers on TV or why they let one of the best pitchers in baseball walk or despite the highest payroll in baseball the can't even make the NLCS

Im ok with losing but not seeing progress on the court. This team is last offensively and defensively, you can only blame talent lvl for so much of their problems..
This is a system problem and we need new directions

[crazyeights]

I do think Byron is clearly tanking though, so it's hard to judge on things like "defense" and "offense"

Maaannn I hope we keep the pick and then we can just move forward in every possible way.

[karkinos]

magic johnson not helping the org by airing out dirty laundry

he's sending the message that anyone who goes to LA and doesn't find success is going to find their name in the news real fast
mitch has always kept ish quiet, and magic should learn to do the same.

[Jakay]

I do think Byron is clearly tanking though, so it's hard to judge on things like "defense" and "offense"

Maaannn I hope we keep the pick and then we can just move forward in every possible way.

Yeah, it's already a lottery, but this is a gamble on top of it.

[gts1]

magic johnson not helping the org by airing out dirty laundry

he's sending the message that anyone who goes to LA and doesn't find success is going to find their name in the news real fast
mitch has always kept ish quiet, and magic should learn to do the same.

For me Magic lost his voice when he sold his ownership stakes... You don't hear owners of other sports teams going on national TV criticizing other team owners, if he wanted to have a say in the teams direction he should have stayed part owner of the Lakers..

Dr. Buss was quiet, Mitch is quiet, Jim is quiet Jeanie is quiet except her twitter where she'll be found oohing and ahhhing over baby and puppy pics...lol

Too bad none of that rubbed off on Magic...

[Speedlot]

Meh. I mean. We want the lakers to tank. Byron's only role is to develop Russel Clarkson, and Randle. He's done GREAT with Clarkson. We may disagree now with him on Russel, but honestly Byron was correct. Because right now, Russel's poor play is being blamed on Byron. And I like that. Takes the pressure off.

This is all me assuming but I really think this is what the lakers had in mind.

Beginning of the year. The plan was to make the playoffs with a decent kobe. 20/4/4 On 42%ish. Turns out, Kobe sucked a new one so they changed the plans to..

Kobe's retiring. Cool, we can ride on his retiring a year. Let's play Lou and Young so we can ship their butts off somewhere. OOH Nance is good? Let's play him too! Since Randle, Clarkson, and Russel are ALL untouchable atm. Might as well. We know how good they are.

After the allstar break, Byron will unleash Russel some more. THIS will allow the lakers to be a PROPER destination for other stars. (if kobe leaving isn't already enough).

Magic's comments last year, and this year are basically the same. But of course it is. Nothing has changed. WE ARE TANKING. Actively tanking. How can Byron win? How can Jim(ugh i'm defending him) win? They're losing on purpose, and already looking to the next year. Let Lou and young have their 30+ games. It'll trick those title contenders in trading for them.



I'm sorry to say it, but there's not ONE game I want the lakers to win. Ride that lottery. And even if we lose it, our next year is still bright as hell with fresh dominant free agents.