RealGM

http://dailybruin.com/2014/05/08/jeanie-buss-talks-lakers-diversity-at-ucla-seminar/

Jeanie answered questions about Dwights decision to leave to Houston

“We didn’t get the opportunity to show him how great this team was with the injury to Kobe,” Buss said. “His decision to leave was a disappointment and not something that has ever happened in Lakers history.”

She also spoke on Kobe's contract

“(Bryant) was a great investment for the organization,” Buss said. “To me, he is worth every dime that we’re paying him, and we’re going to have the opportunity to show how much we appreciate everything he’s done.”

And the future structure of the team and how Dr. Buss set everything up for his children

After Buss passed away last year, fans were concerned about how his children were going to handle the franchise their father had built, especially with the rumored drama between Jeanie Buss and executive vice president Jim Buss, who handles the basketball operations.

“My dad felt comfortable with what he saw in terms of a basketball vision (in Jim),” Jeanie Buss said. “I don’t think it’s fair to know what that vision is because we haven’t really seen it. The team never got to play together.”

They say Jeanie really convinced alot of fans at the seminar that the franchise will be ok. Its just gonna take patience to get back on top. Like I've said recently, I'm done with being negative to Jim and Mitch and any other of the Buss children delegated to certain positions within the organization. Dr. Buss was (and still is) the greatest owner in all of sports and he delegated his children to certain positions for a reason. Jim, Jeanie and Mitch all learned from Dr. Buss and Jerry West how to run a successful franchise. Now as fans we need to stick with the team through the down period just like we did during the championship years. At times even I forget how lucky we are to have the Buss family owning this team. Look how these other owners rarely even care about their team contending and fans... their man focus is the bottom $. And much like there was criticism with the contract Dr. Buss gave Magic back in the day... They're those same criticism for the contract Bean was given for his last pay day. In both cases the Buss family took CARE of their guy. (who makes them ALOT of money also)

I think the Lakers will be just fine. Every team has its struggles. We've been fortunate enough to be contenders for a very long time, so this isn't too bad. The FO will find a way to build a contending team soon enough. I'm sure of it.

Jeanie has herself admitted she hates thinking about signings in terms of the salary cap.

Which is great, because financial limits shouldn't concern her, she just runs the business end...I think...somehow.

I have faith!

I want to believe.

regarding kobe's contract, i think there continues to be a pretty apparent misunderstanding as far what it is about the contract that rubs some the wrong way.

i personally don't have a problem with the contract, so with that out of the way....i don't think there's a single fan who has ever argued or tried to say that kobe, from a business stand point, isn't worth his salary. that seems to be what jeanie is addressing, but she's just saying something that all fans agree with.

the issue starts to develop when you start analyzing how his contract affects the basketball side of things. Kobe will be the highest paid player in the league, 3 mil more than lebron james, 4.5 more than kevin durant, 1.5 mil more than parker and duncan combined, that right there puts the lakers at a SERIOUS disadvantage, perhaps even an insurmountable disadvantage.

it was one thing when kobe was arguably the best player in the league and the lakers had no hand cuffs placed on them by the CBA for going deep in the luxury tax. its another now that you can't just spend your way out of mediocrity. i won't go into all the new and recent ways that the NBA has seemingly successfully leveled the playing field, but it has made it very important to spend your cap wisely.

i'm able to not have a problem with kobe's contract because i simply don't expect them to compete with kobe's salary on the books and i'm content watching them reward kobe for all the money he's made them. i think those that think the lakers could've competed in these next two yrs are right to be unhappy with kobe's contract. i just don't think they could've rebuilt that quickly so i don't think the lakers lost anything by mailing in these next two yrs and just riding the cash cow that is kobe.

Didn't they offer him a contract extension while he was injured? This is all on the front office. Let them deal with maneuvering around his contract to field a competitive team and judge later.

TyCobb wrote:Didn't they offer him a contract extension while he was injured? This is all on the front office. Let them deal with maneuvering around his contract to field a competitive team and judge later.

i'm willing to be surprised, but to me it was a business move not a basketball move, and i'm ok with that.

dockingsched wrote:

TyCobb wrote:Didn't they offer him a contract extension while he was injured? This is all on the front office. Let them deal with maneuvering around his contract to field a competitive team and judge later.

i'm willing to be surprised, but to me it was a business move not a basketball move, and i'm ok with that.

I also think it's about retaining on-court assets. Holding out for potential FA's in the future, hoping they'll want to sign with LA, seems like a recipe for disaster.

I have a problem with Jeannie treating the fans like idiots but the fans likely have a better idea of the CBA and basketball operations than Jeannie does. She's more a CEO and JImmy, Mitch are the ones wiping the grease behind doors.

dockingsched wrote:regarding kobe's contract, i think there continues to be a pretty apparent misunderstanding as far what it is about the contract that rubs some the wrong way.

i personally don't have a problem with the contract, so with that out of the way....i don't think there's a single fan who has ever argued or tried to say that kobe, from a business stand point, isn't worth his salary. that seems to be what jeanie is addressing, but she's just saying something that all fans agree with.

the issue starts to develop when you start analyzing how his contract affects the basketball side of things. Kobe will be the highest paid player in the league, 3 mil more than lebron james, 4.5 more than kevin durant, 1.5 mil more than parker and duncan combined, that right there puts the lakers at a SERIOUS disadvantage, perhaps even an insurmountable disadvantage.

it was one thing when kobe was arguably the best player in the league and the lakers had no hand cuffs placed on them by the CBA for going deep in the luxury tax. its another now that you can't just spend your way out of mediocrity. i won't go into all the new and recent ways that the NBA has seemingly successfully leveled the playing field, but it has made it very important to spend your cap wisely.

i'm able to not have a problem with kobe's contract because i simply don't expect them to compete with kobe's salary on the books and i'm content watching them reward kobe for all the money he's made them. i think those that think the lakers could've competed in these next two yrs are right to be unhappy with kobe's contract. i just don't think they could've rebuilt that quickly so i don't think the lakers lost anything by mailing in these next two yrs and just riding the cash cow that is kobe.

This is how I've always seen it.

Kobe's contract screws himself up more then it does the Lakers. It prevents the Lakers from retooling fast around him.

But he's set to retire in 2 years. If we can nab a FA next year, we could get a second the year Kobe expires (thats one nice thing about a 25 million dollar contract).

could've been done better with "rewarding" kobe. I agree with most here that business standpoint its fair logic to reward your legends such as Kobe but basketball stand point I dont think FO or Kobe is putting 2+2 together, they always throw the simplistic answer of "we still have max room available with kobe's contract." But thats only 1 player and we still have the rest of the team to fill out. So Kobe shouldn't complain or moan going forward if mgmt. is unable to field a competitive team for the upcoming season.

I'm upset because the lakers WEREN"T loyal to Kobe. If they wanted to show their appreciation, they'd build a team around him to compete for championships in his last years. With the contract they gave him, their flexibility is limited and they can't build a contender around him to show how much they appreciate him.

It's a bit ironic but I think building kobe a contender in his last years is more of a way to show appreciation than to shove him a fat contract. You can show your love for your kids by raising them well and making them succeed or you can feed them candy for breakfast and let them do anything they want. One of them isn't real appreciation.

After watching Jeanie at the sloan sports analytics conference talking about media rights, I don't really think she's as smart as people make her out to be.

TyCobb wrote:

dockingsched wrote:

TyCobb wrote:Didn't they offer him a contract extension while he was injured? This is all on the front office. Let them deal with maneuvering around his contract to field a competitive team and judge later.

i'm willing to be surprised, but to me it was a business move not a basketball move, and i'm ok with that.

I also think it's about retaining on-court assets. Holding out for potential FA's in the future, hoping they'll want to sign with LA, seems like a recipe for disaster.

MT: You had an injury that kept you out for a long time before a return, and Kobe has played only six games since tearing his Achilles in April of 2013. Bryant says he’s 100% healthy right and will be fully ready to go for next season. What do you expect from him?
Kupchak: He will be productive and effective, and that was contemplated when we gave him the extension. He’s not going to be the player he was athletically, physically, when he was 24. He looked different then; he was thin, loaded with unabashed energy. Kobe at 36 won’t be the same, but he’ll be better in a lot of ways.

MT: Because you can make an argument that he still has the best pure basketball skills in the NBA, with his shooting, play-making, footwork, post up ability, touch, and so on?
Kupchak: I’d put him up there with anybody, yes. Experience and knowledge, too. He’ll be effective.

MT: You’ve been criticized for the contract extension that was given to Bryant. How does it factor into the way you build this team over the next two seasons, with salary cap implications and so on, and how would things look different if you’d given him less money?
Kupchak: When we gave Kobe the extension, we took a lot of factors into consideration, including the factors you just mentioned. We felt it was the thing to do. We’re still in a position to be a big player in the free agent market. Signing Kobe when we did, we felt, gave us one of the top two or three free agents that would be available this summer. We had the rare opportunity to get that done and not have to wait until July 1. Everybody can debate whether they would have waited or not, but our mindset was: ‘This is somebody we can get done now, and we still have a chance to be a player financially with free agency.’ Cap space is valuable and you don’t want to misuse it. You do have to use it, but you don’t have to use it going forward unless you want to.

http://www.nba.com/lakers/news/140512mi ... _qa?cid=FB

Slava wrote:I have a problem with Jeannie treating the fans like idiots but the fans likely have a better idea of the CBA and basketball operations than Jeannie does. She's more a CEO and JImmy, Mitch are the ones wiping the grease behind doors.

hmmm that's quite a leap there.

Phil XI wrote:

Slava wrote:I have a problem with Jeannie treating the fans like idiots but the fans likely have a better idea of the CBA and basketball operations than Jeannie does. She's more a CEO and JImmy, Mitch are the ones wiping the grease behind doors.

hmmm that's quite a leap there.

She lost me when saying that the fans should not worry about cap numbers and I highly doubt she's into the Larry Coon FAQ page.

Slava wrote:

Phil XI wrote:

Slava wrote:I have a problem with Jeannie treating the fans like idiots but the fans likely have a better idea of the CBA and basketball operations than Jeannie does. She's more a CEO and JImmy, Mitch are the ones wiping the grease behind doors.

hmmm that's quite a leap there.

She lost me when saying that the fans should not worry about cap numbers and I highly doubt she's into the Larry Coon FAQ page.

I would say 1% of the Laker fan base have any working knowledge of the Salary Cap and how it works. Most people just listen to talk radio and the talking points.

So to a point she is right. However, the job is theirs.. Jeanie, Jim and Mitch that should not involve what the casual laker fan thinks about the Salary Cap. To Dock's point above if this was a business decision it was one with the salary cap in mind and not absent of it.

Considering she has been on the " business" side of multiple successful franchise years, TimeWarner Deal, Board of governors, part of the CBA negotiations, etc.. I would say she has some level of competence when it comes to salaries and caps.

You making a huge assumption based on a media soundbite.

Phil XI wrote:

Slava wrote:

Phil XI wrote:
hmmm that's quite a leap there.

She lost me when saying that the fans should not worry about cap numbers and I highly doubt she's into the Larry Coon FAQ page.

I would say 1% of the Laker fan base have any working knowledge of the Salary Cap and how it works. Most people just listen to talk radio and the talking points.

So to a point she is right. However, the job is theirs.. Jeanie, Jim and Mitch that should not involve what the casual laker fan thinks about the Salary Cap. To Dock's point above if this was a business decision it was one with the salary cap in mind and not absent of it.

Considering she has been on the " business" side of multiple successful franchise years, TimeWarner Deal, Board of governors, part of the CBA negotiations, etc.. I would say she has some level of competence when it comes to salaries and caps.

You making a huge assumption based on a media soundbite.

I don't know if she attended the CBA meetings, it was mostly done before Dr. Buss' demise. Also she had this to say recently:

"I don't know specifics on the plan, but they're confident and have assured me that next year will be better, measurable by more wins," she said. "We'll continue to build from there."

http://articles.latimes.com/2014/mar/19 ... i-20140320

I have no doubt she's smart and capable but I doubt she understands the gravity of constructing a roster capable of challenging while committing 1/3rd of your cap to an aging veteran coming off a catastrophic injury.

She seems to be investing a lot of faith in Jimmy & Kupchak.

Not a media soundbite, it was her actual statement when she asked to settle the score and right the boat on the Phil Jackson mess. In that same interview, she intimated that she has essentially not been as involved as she would have normally been (regarding staying home and watching games with Phil).

Jeanie's miscalculation is that she could throw live grenades (such as the airing of family grievances--as if it were Festivus) in her latest book, while publicly disappearing from the fans, giving the impression that we were left to the devices of the kooky man behind the curtain.

I'm glad she's realized that the Lakers desperately needed the figurehead that she can play, but it's done a significant amount of damage to the team's perception in the short term. It also doesn't help that some of the first things out of her mouth are straight up silly sounding--when the entire point was for her to get us back on track.

Essentially, the Jeanie response is justified in relation to the response to Jimmy. So many people have raised her status, deeming her worthy of owning and running this franchise...but if she wants to be seen in that light, she's going to have to appeal to more than the casual fan (which I agree, most people don't care or take the time to understand the cap. Hell, not even our radio personalities seem to, either. Probably because it would cause you to hate the normal fan )