Mitch Kupchak appreciation thread

[Slava]

Its been an unreal career Mitch. Thanks for everything.

[TyCobb]

I'll never forget the joy from the Gasol trade.

[dontforget]

This guy made my High School and College days so glorious. When Laker hater's kept chirping he silenced them trade after trade. He's such a GOAT that the NBA had step in.

Love ya MITCH!!!

[Sofa King]

Mitch should always be loved in the Lakers organization for what he accomplished. All the best.

[Kilroy]

Mitch was the one holdover from the old days I felt like I could trust. I think he deserved a whole lot better and ultimately firing him in this way will be viewed as a black eye on this organization.
I remember when he was hired I kind of freaked out... Like, how do you go from Jerry West to freaking Mitch Kupchack. But his poise and stability won me over and all the deals that he was involved with over the years made me see him as a legend IMO.

[The Skyhook]

He didn't deserve to go out like this. I'm going to miss Mitch and his magic wand.

[MrWaffles]

He has done an incredible job for the Lakers over the last decade. Very well liked across the league. It's a shame he had to end his career on a downward spiral.

I hope he writes a book.

Thanks Mitch.

[MAMBAEMD]

Mitch is a class guy and I believe an underrated GM.
I will miss him greatly, and although I feel that the organization needs to go in another direction, I feel bad that he was let go like this.

IMO he has done a great job in the drafts and trades, like the Gasol trade. I was jumping up and down in disbelief for an hour after I heard about that trade.
What he wasn't able to do was land the big free agent.
I think we have to remember that he was also caught in the middle of a power struggle, between Jim and Jeannie and I felt he always handled himself with class and integrity in that mess.

Aside from his terrific work as the Lakers GM, I'll also remember two things about him.
My son and I met him in a Subway restaurant in West LA about 2 years ago. He could not have been a more kind and friendly gentleman. He spoke with my son who was 11 at the time for about 10 minutes.

The other is his touching Commencement speech at the UCLA Anderson School . For those who have not seen that, it is worth youtubing it.

Thank you for all your many years of dedication and service to the Lakers Mitch!

[myersia]

Mitch you did your job well man. The game changed. The rules changed. New CBA. This was just not your time anymore. Nonetheless can someone please post the Mitch meme that zooms in on his face? This always got posted after our last two biggest trades. It was my favorite Mitch related item. Had we gotten CP3 things would had been different. But that is not Mitch's fault.

[Landsberger]

Mitch was good at maintaining the window for Kobe and the Gasol trade was huge. He seemed to struggle in recent years on focusing on obtainable targets in both trades and FA. That may have been dictated from above however.

I remember the trade that brought him to LA to back up Kareem back in the day. He'd been a promising PF for WA but after a severe knee injury he was never the same. Good to see that the organization gave him the opportunities to get to where he got.

Happy retirement.

[milesfides]

Old school, stand up dude.

His problem was being married to Jim Buss. He's a loyal soldier going down. I'm sure if he wanted to, he could get another position in the league. I think he needs a vacation though. Life is too short, man.

The best GM's aren't necessarily the best analysts or quants.

But he was a class act, tight-lipped, and unflappable.

He took an unholy amount of blame during the tough years, and not enough credit for the good moves.

He's really the guy who handled Kobe Bryant.

I will always respect that about him, because it could not have been easy. The past 20 years was really the Kobe+Mitch era. Championship banners hang forever.

[Dr Aki]

you did us proud mitch

[mastermixer]

DUDE WAS THE GOAT. Hate to see him go. Just a stoic stone-cold killer.

[Laker_Kid]

no more "do it mitch!"


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[trevm37]

Really sad to see him go, the way he handled the media, la market, and such huge egos around him was extraordinary.

[aaron_gray]

[Laker_Kid]

it's been a while since Mitch made a splash. i guess his time has passed.


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[Marionettetc]

Goodnight, sweet prince.

[Edrees]

Thanks for all the championships Mitch.

[hermes]

too bad, i'll miss mitch. he was a great guy who did a great job

one more time for the road:

DO IT MITCH!