Jeanie Buss Interview

[Mephariel]

Yeah, she recently got a championship in 2020. I mean, there are far worse owners out there.

[MrBigShot]

Well they did just win a championship like 2 years ago so I think she deserves some leeway. She took accountability which is good...but she has to look around the front office and make some changes. There no reason a team with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on it should have 33 wins.

[Slava]

Sometimes the easiest way to evaluate the worth of your employees is to ask what they'd be worth and where they'd be if they didn't work for you. Will Kurt Rambis, Rob Pelinka and co find a similar job with 29 other franchises in the league? The answer is a resounding no.

[hauntedcomputer]

So many fans wish their team had a terrible owner that won a championship.

[thebigbird]

why are (some) Laker fans so entitled? have you forgotten your team has been in the GUTTER since 2010?

Jeanie Buss saved the franchise from her stupid brother and won a championship just two seasons ago

as long as the sun shines in LA, the Lakers will be fine. this is a massive over reaction and reminder that (some) Laker fans don't deserve what you have

Lol Jeanie didn’t save ****. LeBron decided that he wanted to live in LA and AD wanted to play with LeBron. Jeanie had absolutely nothing to do with that.

[thebigbird]

Worst owner in the league. She’s cheap. She chooses to have her friends in her circle instead of competent front office people. Rob Pelinka, the Rambii, Magic Johnson, Phil Jackson. None of them have front office success but they’re her “brain trust” because they’re in the “Laker family.” She shunned Jerry West, who actually has FO success. Lakers would be much better off if she sold to the Dodgers group.

She may not be the best owner but she's absolutely far from the worst....like come on dude. My real team is the team I grew up watching because it was my home team (Pistons) but because they've sucked for almost half my life, I'm a Lakers fan too. Reading an article like this and having an owner that really actually cares about the fan base is important.

Pelinka is a fine hire and when allowed to do his job, he's probably a solid GM too....who knows at this point. If your two superstars are saying go get Russ Westbrook, you go get Russ Westbrook...it is what it is. Magic & Phil aren't making decisions, they simply just have a voice....nothing entirely wrong with that.

The ONLY issue I truly have with their front office is Rambis situation and him being allowed to be so micromanaging of head coaches. Her line about getting a head coach first and allowing that coach to come up with the direction that the team will play and all that is absolute b/s....Klutch will continue to have a huge voice in personnel moves and LeBron and AD will still control how the team plays and who on the team plays. Its the price of having superstars in todays game.....at least the dudes they're listening to have championships.

LeBron couldn’t even get the coach he wanted hired, but somehow he had the Lakers at gunpoint and trading for RW was the only option? Cmon. They’ve told LeBron no over and over again. No to hiring Ty Lue. No to keeping Jared Dudley around. No to resigning Caruso. No to trading RW at the deadline.

Her “brain trust” is filled with incompetent people who wouldn’t have jobs with any other organization. What other owner would make Linda Rambis one of her go to people for basketball advice? It’s honestly laughable.

[DroseReturnChi]

Sometimes the easiest way to evaluate the worth of your employees is to ask what they'd be worth and where they'd be if they didn't work for you. Will Kurt Rambis, Rob Pelinka and co find a similar job with 29 other franchises in the league? The answer is a resounding no.

it doesnt matter. lets not act kcp, kuzma was saviors. they were trash and this is what we see from lebron. his roleplayers overachieve for a yr get overpaid and team becomes trash. its been this for 20 yrs. buss had a ring its time to retool or rebuild.

[An Unbiased Fan]

why are (some) Laker fans so entitled? have you forgotten your team has been in the GUTTER since 2010?

Jeanie Buss saved the franchise from her stupid brother and won a championship just two seasons ago

as long as the sun shines in LA, the Lakers will be fine. this is a massive over reaction and reminder that (some) Laker fans don't deserve what you have

Lol Jeanie didn’t save ****. LeBron decided that he wanted to live in LA and AD wanted to play with LeBron. Jeanie had absolutely nothing to do with that.

Whatever dude, LA had a title within the last few years, which most teams can't claim. Setting up the cap space, and tads that got that title was done by the front office.

[LofJ]

Michael Jordan used to treat the Hornets as his family business just like Jeanie Buss appears to. He still does somewhat, but not nearly to the extent that he used to. He's replaced a lot of his buddies with more competent professionals, has brought in additional investors, and stepped back from being involved in day to day operations. He could always revert to his old ways and give his college roommate Buzz Peterson the POBO job when Kupchak retires, but I have hope he's put those days behind him.

So TLDR there's hope that she'll change her ways once it becomes obvious what's she's doing isn't working.

[An Unbiased Fan]

Michael Jordan used to treat the Hornets as his family business just like Jeanie Buss appears to. He still does somewhat, but not nearly to the extent that he used to. He's replaced a lot of his buddies with more competent professionals, has brought in additional investors, and stepped back from being involved in day to day operations. He could always revert to his old ways and give his college roommate Buzz Peterson the POBO job when Kupchak retires, but I have hope he's put those days behind him.

So TLDR there's hope that she'll change her ways once it becomes obvious what's she's doing isn't working.

Dr Buss treated the Lakers like a family business. He did pretty good. And if we go from 1980 to now, the Lakers have 11 rings.

[LofJ]

Michael Jordan used to treat the Hornets as his family business just like Jeanie Buss appears to. He still does somewhat, but not nearly to the extent that he used to. He's replaced a lot of his buddies with more competent professionals, has brought in additional investors, and stepped back from being involved in day to day operations. He could always revert to his old ways and give his college roommate Buzz Peterson the POBO job when Kupchak retires, but I have hope he's put those days behind him.

So TLDR there's hope that she'll change her ways once it becomes obvious what's she's doing isn't working.

Dr Buss treated the Lakers like a family business. He did pretty good. And if we go from 1980 to now, the Lakers have 11 rings.

If you have the right mentality and interpersonal dynamic with the people under you family businesses can be remarkably successful. But if you don't you'll have a disaster on your hands. Dr. Buss obviously had the right mix of interpersonal skills to make it work.

[druggas]

why are (some) Laker fans so entitled? have you forgotten your team has been in the GUTTER since 2010?

Jeanie Buss saved the franchise from her stupid brother and won a championship just two seasons ago

as long as the sun shines in LA, the Lakers will be fine. this is a massive over reaction and reminder that (some) Laker fans don't deserve what you have

Lol Jeanie didn’t save ****. LeBron decided that he wanted to live in LA and AD wanted to play with LeBron. Jeanie had absolutely nothing to do with that.

He could of signed with the Clippers, but went instead to the Lakers. I wonder why..............

[DTP]

Worst owner in the league. She’s cheap. She chooses to have her friends in her circle instead of competent front office people. Rob Pelinka, the Rambii, Magic Johnson, Phil Jackson. None of them have front office success but they’re her “brain trust” because they’re in the “Laker family.” She shunned Jerry West, who actually has FO success. Lakers would be much better off if she sold to the Dodgers group.

She may not be the best owner but she's absolutely far from the worst....like come on dude. My real team is the team I grew up watching because it was my home team (Pistons) but because they've sucked for almost half my life, I'm a Lakers fan too. Reading an article like this and having an owner that really actually cares about the fan base is important.

Pelinka is a fine hire and when allowed to do his job, he's probably a solid GM too....who knows at this point. If your two superstars are saying go get Russ Westbrook, you go get Russ Westbrook...it is what it is. Magic & Phil aren't making decisions, they simply just have a voice....nothing entirely wrong with that.

The ONLY issue I truly have with their front office is Rambis situation and him being allowed to be so micromanaging of head coaches. Her line about getting a head coach first and allowing that coach to come up with the direction that the team will play and all that is absolute b/s....Klutch will continue to have a huge voice in personnel moves and LeBron and AD will still control how the team plays and who on the team plays. Its the price of having superstars in todays game.....at least the dudes they're listening to have championships.

LeBron couldn’t even get the coach he wanted hired, but somehow he had the Lakers at gunpoint and trading for RW was the only option? Cmon. They’ve told LeBron no over and over again. No to hiring Ty Lue. No to keeping Jared Dudley around. No to resigning Caruso. No to trading RW at the deadline.

Her “brain trust” is filled with incompetent people who wouldn’t have jobs with any other organization. What other owner would make Linda Rambis one of her go to people for basketball advice? It’s honestly laughable.

I'm obviously not in the organization so don't exactly know why LeBron has more influence over some decisions but not one mention of Pelinka being involved in the Westbrook story from this summer....it was LeBron and AD who met and set it all into motion. At some point the players on the court have to take accountability and the GM has to take accountability.

Please share a creditable report of Linda Rambis having say in basketball operations. I completely believe her explanation in this piece when it comes to Linda Rambis, which has nothing to do with player personnel moves.

[kenwood3333]

Most owners care about winning and that is quite different from being a competent enough ower to hire the right people to build a winning team. You can have a monkey as the Lakers owner and they would still win 2 years ago. Her existence is irreelvant.

[Kordic27]

I'm sure dealing with the divas in LA has its own challenges, but given the fact that they have the location that every NBA player wants to play in, let alone the money and the history, means that any competent front office should be able to easily be in the playoffs every year.
The game is weighted in their favour, so not being able to compete literally every year is ridiculous.

[G35]

Yahoo! report on Jeanie interview (originally given to LA Times):

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-jeanie-buss-says-she-110046500.html

Thoughts?

Worrisome IMO... very much. She basically confirms all the stories and reports about her inner circle and decision making process, all while doubling down on it.

Sure she sounds, as always, very transparent and comes out like a nice person, who genuinely does and wants the best for the franchise.

But she seems too emotional and insecure for this. The Lakers is family to her, and that's why she surrounds herself by people she considers family. She has deep connection to literally all people who are in charge or advise basketball decisions. I'm not sure there's any other franchise where this is the case...

It almost feels like she has a bit of a crush on Rob Pelinka, to be honest... she's so emotional about everything.

Look, her insecurity is perfectly understandable. She leads the most famous and storied franchise in basketball, dealing with the most pressure to win, in a world of men, a multibillion dollar business, carrying the heritage of her father, all while spending her whole life involved with it.

But it's just too much of a burden to carry. In order to succeed she would need great, if not exceptional leading traits - specially when you mix business and family like this.

Also, she emphasized how tough it was for her to go into the luxury tax... it also didn't look good from the financial side of things.

Honestly, it would just be better for the Lakers if the franchise was sold to rich owners with some connection to the city, but most importantly, who are willing to spend and actually treat it like a basketball business. The Jerry Buss era is long gone.

But, as Jeanie said, that's not happening for now. Actually it looks like it's a long, long way from happening...

Future is not looking great in Lakerland - even with all the innerent advantages they have over 25 or so other franchises...

You cannot lead long term through emotion. You can win a battle here or there with emotions, but being a leader requires a few things:

- disagreeableness
- making rational/practical decisions over emotional
- not worrying about what other people think

I don't know if she has that in her toolkit.....

[PedroFlu]

Yahoo! report on Jeanie interview (originally given to LA Times):

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-jeanie-buss-says-she-110046500.html

Thoughts?

Worrisome IMO... very much. She basically confirms all the stories and reports about her inner circle and decision making process, all while doubling down on it.

Sure she sounds, as always, very transparent and comes out like a nice person, who genuinely does and wants the best for the franchise.

But she seems too emotional and insecure for this. The Lakers is family to her, and that's why she surrounds herself by people she considers family. She has deep connection to literally all people who are in charge or advise basketball decisions. I'm not sure there's any other franchise where this is the case...

It almost feels like she has a bit of a crush on Rob Pelinka, to be honest... she's so emotional about everything.

Look, her insecurity is perfectly understandable. She leads the most famous and storied franchise in basketball, dealing with the most pressure to win, in a world of men, a multibillion dollar business, carrying the heritage of her father, all while spending her whole life involved with it.

But it's just too much of a burden to carry. In order to succeed she would need great, if not exceptional leading traits - specially when you mix business and family like this.

Also, she emphasized how tough it was for her to go into the luxury tax... it also didn't look good from the financial side of things.

Honestly, it would just be better for the Lakers if the franchise was sold to rich owners with some connection to the city, but most importantly, who are willing to spend and actually treat it like a basketball business. The Jerry Buss era is long gone.

But, as Jeanie said, that's not happening for now. Actually it looks like it's a long, long way from happening...

Future is not looking great in Lakerland - even with all the innerent advantages they have over 25 or so other franchises...

You cannot lead long term through emotion. You can win a battle here or there with emotions, but being a leader requires a few things:

- disagreeableness
- making rational/practical decisions over emotional
- not worrying about what other people think

I don't know if she has that in her toolkit.....

Yep. I would guess Jerry Buss made rational decisions look emotional, only for persuasion purposes..

[G35]

Yahoo! report on Jeanie interview (originally given to LA Times):

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-jeanie-buss-says-she-110046500.html

Thoughts?

Worrisome IMO... very much. She basically confirms all the stories and reports about her inner circle and decision making process, all while doubling down on it.

Sure she sounds, as always, very transparent and comes out like a nice person, who genuinely does and wants the best for the franchise.

But she seems too emotional and insecure for this. The Lakers is family to her, and that's why she surrounds herself by people she considers family. She has deep connection to literally all people who are in charge or advise basketball decisions. I'm not sure there's any other franchise where this is the case...

It almost feels like she has a bit of a crush on Rob Pelinka, to be honest... she's so emotional about everything.

Look, her insecurity is perfectly understandable. She leads the most famous and storied franchise in basketball, dealing with the most pressure to win, in a world of men, a multibillion dollar business, carrying the heritage of her father, all while spending her whole life involved with it.

But it's just too much of a burden to carry. In order to succeed she would need great, if not exceptional leading traits - specially when you mix business and family like this.

Also, she emphasized how tough it was for her to go into the luxury tax... it also didn't look good from the financial side of things.

Honestly, it would just be better for the Lakers if the franchise was sold to rich owners with some connection to the city, but most importantly, who are willing to spend and actually treat it like a basketball business. The Jerry Buss era is long gone.

But, as Jeanie said, that's not happening for now. Actually it looks like it's a long, long way from happening...

Future is not looking great in Lakerland - even with all the innerent advantages they have over 25 or so other franchises...

You cannot lead long term through emotion. You can win a battle here or there with emotions, but being a leader requires a few things:

- disagreeableness
- making rational/practical decisions over emotional
- not worrying about what other people think

I don't know if she has that in her toolkit.....

Yep. I would guess Jerry Buss made rational decisions look emotional, only for persuasion purposes..

Buss had Jerry West.....who does Jeannie have.....

[An Unbiased Fan]

I'm sure dealing with the divas in LA has its own challenges, but given the fact that they have the location that every NBA player wants to play in, let alone the money and the history, means that any competent front office should be able to easily be in the playoffs every year.
The game is weighted in their favour, so not being able to compete literally every year is ridiculous.

The Knicks haven't won a ring since 72', just stop with this nonsense. The Lakers are the most successful team in modern sports with the Buss family.

[Capn'O]

Agree with the OP. I see Buss committing a number of the same mistakes that Jim Dolan has made. Hopefully she's able to adjust her ways.