Ramona Shelburne: How often do you two talk?
Jeanie: As necessary. I don't think it has to be every day.
Jim: Jeanie's got multiple departments to cover: TV, the sponsors, just to name two. I have one department to cover. We can talk five times a day for three straight days. And then maybe a week or two will go by before we need to talk. If there's something that's big in basketball operations, then I contact Jeanie. A trade, a situation off the court, those kinds of things.
Jim, you've taken a lot of criticism for some of the decisions the Lakers have made over the years. How have you learned to deal with that?
Jim: We knew we were going to have to deal with the economics of the new collective bargaining agreement. By correcting our situation, it was going to be painful. Unfortunately, on top of correcting we had some severe injuries that knocked top players out for a year at a time. So I accept the responsibility for the criticism. I don't think it's correct, but I accept it. I understand the pain of Lakers fans. I feel the pain of losing too. But I have to focus on how we get out of this. And when I look at the flexibility and the position that we're in, we can't be in a better position to move forward.
Your 2015 first-round pick is owed to Phoenix as part of the Steve Nash trade unless it's in the top five. There is already talk that you should tank to try to keep that pick. How do you respond to that?
Jim: It will never happen here, period. The question is insulting. Our fans understand there's a process. They believe in the process -- the coach, Kobe, the draft pick [Julius Randle] and the flexibility we have going forward.
Jeanie: The teams that use tanking as a strategy are doing damage. If you're in tanking mode, that means you've got young players who you're teaching bad habits to. I think that's unforgivable. If you're tanking and you have young players or you keep a short roster, you're playing guys out of their position or too many minutes, you're risking injury. It's irresponsible and I don't think it belongs in any league.
Ramona Shelburne | ESPN
Interview touches on a variety of subjects including Dr. Buss' influence, tanking, CBA and others. The Phil Jackson snub still appears to be a fresh wound between the two and the alliance seems to be an uneasy one but they do appear eager to present a collective front.
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