Shots Fired: Phil Jackson calls Jim Buss a trust fund baby

[Slava]

On Lakers executive Jim Buss: “Jimmy Buss is a person that's vaulted into position through his inheritance, his father's position,” Jackson said. “I think he's coming to terms with one of the realities of this job. That's all I can offer.”

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... nheritance

[TyCobb]

Everybody get their shots in while we're down. Jim will step down eventually, but who will replace him?

[snaquille oatmeal]

Everybody get their shots in while we're down. Jim will step down eventually, but who will replace him?

goldrodd who else

[ak7]

Everybody get their shots in while we're down. Jim will step down eventually, but who will replace him?

No idea, but it can't be anywhere worse than Jim... at least I think (hope)?

[PKABOOICU]

i hope magic can buy a majority stake

[Sofa King]

Everybody get their shots in while we're down. Jim will step down eventually, but who will replace him?

[Kilroy]

Phil couldn't get a job with his preferred team and now works for Dolan. What realities has he come to terms with?

Whatever he says about Jim, he's also saying about Jeanie... Either he's the biggest douche ever or he's not thinking this through very well...

[Sedale Threatt]

Jeanie has at least put a ton of work in with the Lakers over the years. And she doesn't style herself as a personnel person. With Jimmy, it feels like he got sick of life at the racetrack or whatever and decided he might as well try his hand at pro basketball.

[DEEP3CL]

Everybody get their shots in while we're down. Jim will step down eventually, but who will replace him?

Ha ha....the man who said it.

[MAMBAEMD]

I think it is pretty class-less of Phil to say this about his former employer, one that he got 3 rings with.

It is clearly sour grapes in my opinion because Jim didn't re-hire him as coach and then didn't give him a boat load of money to be in the front office. Frankly, I'm not sure I would have either.

And he seems to imply that Jim didn't earn his role in the front office.
What needs to be emphasized and reminded is that Jim spent many years "learning" this role while Dr. Buss was alive. He was always hanging out with Jerry and Mitch over the last 10 or so years. Dr. Buss's plan was always to have Jim run the team when he passed.

Now, one can argue that some of his decisions have not been great.
But he did work hard to learn the ropes and did what his dad asked hom to do.

Phil needs to chill!

[D Nice]

Truths Fired

[EArl]

Phil just mad he had to settle for the Knicks.

[crazyeights]

PJ's the worst brother-in-law. ****.

[Kilroy]

Jeanie has at least put a ton of work in with the Lakers over the years. And she doesn't style herself as a personnel person. With Jimmy, it feels like he got sick of life at the racetrack or whatever and decided he might as well try his hand at pro basketball.

Jeanie hasn't been working any longer or harder with the Lakers than Jim... She's just easier to look at.

I wish the reporter would have called Phil's bluff on this one... "What realities are those Phil?"

[Slava]

Jeanie has at least put a ton of work in with the Lakers over the years. And she doesn't style herself as a personnel person. With Jimmy, it feels like he got sick of life at the racetrack or whatever and decided he might as well try his hand at pro basketball.

Jeanie hasn't been working any longer or harder with the Lakers than Jim... She's just easier to look at.

I wish the reporter would have called Phil's bluff on this one... "What realities are those Phil?"

Nah, she's been managing a lot of the Buss family assets since she was 19, unlike Jimmy who got bored with horses and decided he'd try his hand at the family business. From Wiki:

World TeamTennis folded in 1978, and was revived in 1981 as TeamTennis. Jerry once again owned the Strings, and he appointed the 19-year-old Buss as the general manager while she was studying at USC.[2][4] "Basically, my dad bought me the team," said Buss.[2] After the Strings folded in 1993, Buss brought professional roller hockey to Los Angeles as owner of the Los Angeles Blades in Roller Hockey International. The league named her Executive of the Year.[2][3]

Buss also served four years as president of the Great Western Forum, then the home arena of the Lakers.[3] Throughout her stint with the Forum, her role with the Lakers increased, and she served as the Alternate Governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 1995.[3]

In 1999, she was named executive vice president of business operations for the Lakers.[5] Her brother Jim was promoted to vice president of player personnel in 2005.[6] Their father's plan was to have Buss handle the business decisions of the team, while Jim handled the basketball side of the Lakers.[7]

[LApwnd]

On Lakers executive Jim Buss: “Jimmy Buss is a person that's vaulted into position through his inheritance, his father's position,” Jackson said. “I think he's coming to terms with one of the realities of this job. That's all I can offer.”

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... nheritance

that's how I feel....does Jim even have a college degree? How many people can get to his position the way he did if daddy wasn't the owner?

[Kilroy]

Jeanie has at least put a ton of work in with the Lakers over the years. And she doesn't style herself as a personnel person. With Jimmy, it feels like he got sick of life at the racetrack or whatever and decided he might as well try his hand at pro basketball.

Jeanie hasn't been working any longer or harder with the Lakers than Jim... She's just easier to look at.

I wish the reporter would have called Phil's bluff on this one... "What realities are those Phil?"

Nah, she's been managing a lot of the Buss family assets since she was 19, unlike Jimmy who got bored with horses and decided he'd try his hand at the family business. From Wiki:

World TeamTennis folded in 1978, and was revived in 1981 as TeamTennis. Jerry once again owned the Strings, and he appointed the 19-year-old Buss as the general manager while she was studying at USC.[2][4] "Basically, my dad bought me the team," said Buss.[2] After the Strings folded in 1993, Buss brought professional roller hockey to Los Angeles as owner of the Los Angeles Blades in Roller Hockey International. The league named her Executive of the Year.[2][3]

Buss also served four years as president of the Great Western Forum, then the home arena of the Lakers.[3] Throughout her stint with the Forum, her role with the Lakers increased, and she served as the Alternate Governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 1995.[3]

In 1999, she was named executive vice president of business operations for the Lakers.[5] Her brother Jim was promoted to vice president of player personnel in 2005.[6] Their father's plan was to have Buss handle the business decisions of the team, while Jim handled the basketball side of the Lakers.[7]

That's a pretty romantic view of Jeanie... But OK... As long as we accept she's getting credit for running her father's businesses... And knowing Dr Buss was never very far away...

So if we're giving Jeanie that credit, we give Jim credit for:

In 1985, Buss became president of his father's indoor soccer team, the Los Angeles Lazers, after his brother Johnny had quit. Buss brought annual losses down from $1 million to $500,000, but the team folded in 1989.[2][5]

And also understand that Jim didn't own the horses, he was training horses his dad owned:

He next became a horse trainer, receiving from his father the half-dozen thoroughbreds he owned. In 1997, Jerry divested himself of his horse racing stock that was increasingly unprofitable.[2] Shortly after, he invited his son to join the Lakers, a basketball team he acquired in 1979 and built into one of the most lucrative and popular in all of sports.
Buss started with the Lakers in 1998 as an apprentice to general manager Jerry West and his assistant, Mitch Kupchak.[1][6][2][4]

Horse racing isn't profitable... You have to win all the time to be profitable and no one ever does... It's a hobby for people who make money elsewhere...

And technically, this says Jim was with the Lakers a year before Jeanie...

Point being, both of these people owe whatever success they've had to their dad. It isn't fair to single one of them out for praise or blame. They're in that boat together until one of them leaves.

[Kilroy]

On Lakers executive Jim Buss: “Jimmy Buss is a person that's vaulted into position through his inheritance, his father's position,” Jackson said. “I think he's coming to terms with one of the realities of this job. That's all I can offer.”

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-bas ... nheritance

that's how I feel....does Jim even have a college degree? How many people can get to his position the way he did if daddy wasn't the owner?

He went to USC and majored in math. He dropped out to race his dads horses. He wanted to be a jockey but was too big.

I think most people are trying to hold Jim Buss to a higher standard than they could ever achieve... Can you imagine growing up filthy rich in LA in the late 70's and 80's? I have a feeling, if you did some research, you'd find both of them represented Success stories in their era and socioeconomic class.

[Slava]

Jeanie hasn't been working any longer or harder with the Lakers than Jim... She's just easier to look at.

I wish the reporter would have called Phil's bluff on this one... "What realities are those Phil?"

Nah, she's been managing a lot of the Buss family assets since she was 19, unlike Jimmy who got bored with horses and decided he'd try his hand at the family business. From Wiki:

World TeamTennis folded in 1978, and was revived in 1981 as TeamTennis. Jerry once again owned the Strings, and he appointed the 19-year-old Buss as the general manager while she was studying at USC.[2][4] "Basically, my dad bought me the team," said Buss.[2] After the Strings folded in 1993, Buss brought professional roller hockey to Los Angeles as owner of the Los Angeles Blades in Roller Hockey International. The league named her Executive of the Year.[2][3]

Buss also served four years as president of the Great Western Forum, then the home arena of the Lakers.[3] Throughout her stint with the Forum, her role with the Lakers increased, and she served as the Alternate Governor on the NBA Board of Governors since 1995.[3]

In 1999, she was named executive vice president of business operations for the Lakers.[5] Her brother Jim was promoted to vice president of player personnel in 2005.[6] Their father's plan was to have Buss handle the business decisions of the team, while Jim handled the basketball side of the Lakers.[7]

That's a pretty romantic view of Jeanie... But OK... As long as we accept she's getting credit for running her father's businesses... And knowing Dr Buss was never very far away...

So if we're giving Jeanie that credit, we give Jim credit for:

In 1985, Buss became president of his father's indoor soccer team, the Los Angeles Lazers, after his brother Johnny had quit. Buss brought annual losses down from $1 million to $500,000, but the team folded in 1989.[2][5]

And also understand that Jim didn't own the horses, he was training horses his dad owned:

He next became a horse trainer, receiving from his father the half-dozen thoroughbreds he owned. In 1997, Jerry divested himself of his horse racing stock that was increasingly unprofitable.[2] Shortly after, he invited his son to join the Lakers, a basketball team he acquired in 1979 and built into one of the most lucrative and popular in all of sports.
Buss started with the Lakers in 1998 as an apprentice to general manager Jerry West and his assistant, Mitch Kupchak.[1][6][2][4]

Horse racing isn't profitable... You have to win all the time to be profitable and no one ever does... It's a hobby for people who make money elsewhere...

And technically, this says Jim was with the Lakers a year before Jeanie...

Point being, both of these people owe whatever success they've had to their dad. It isn't fair to single one of them out for praise or blame. They're in that boat together until one of them leaves.

The timeline might be favorable to Jimmy but Jeannie has a business degree which makes her qualified for her job as the CEO of the Lakers, handling everything except the basketball operations. You could argue that she has been excellent at her job.

Now all the basketball operations people in the league have either been ex-players (Jerry West, Kupchak, Phil etc) or they are incredibly smart quants from top business schools, while being pioneers in saber-metrics (Presti, Buford, Morey etc). Now which of that bunch does Jimmy belong to? In short what are his credentials other than being spawned from Jerry's testicles and hanging out with Mitch and West for a while?

There's also this famous Jerry West quote that "He listens to his Son more than me!", which likely precipitated his exit among other things.

So either Jimmy is of the mold of Bill Gates or Rain man to be extraordinarily good at what he does without any formal higher education or Phil is right.

As a team with nearly unlimited financial resources we should be able to get the best basketball people running the operation, instead we are stuck with nepotism.

[Michael Lucky]

Everybody get their shots in while we're down. Jim will step down eventually, but who will replace him?

oh lord, we're screwed.