Mitch Kupchak appreciation thread

[crazyeights]

Mitch followed the toughest act in his profession in Jerry West, and he did so throughout multiple eras and a changing NBA landscape that chipped away at advantages we used to have. Dude kept us afloat, and without him we'd have turned into the Knicks long ago.

Enjoy whatever comes next, Mitch. And keep that wand of yours handy.

#Pau4Evr

[gts1]

The firing of Kupchak will haunt this team. They lost one of the great basketball minds. We can debate on and on about the last few years and who's fault it was but to not make sure they find a way to keep Mitch in house was a huge mistake. Wouldn't surprise me one bit to see him with Golden State in some capacity next season


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[Kilroy]

I agree...

Not really liking how the Magic-Goodwill media blitz is going right now with regard to how Mitch was treated... It's kind of like an extended slap in the face... Magic and the media talking about how tight the staff is now, new vibe and all that.... When those are essentially all guys Mitch and Jim put in the room...

Mitch leaves Magic a team that has:

A premier Coaching staff... Premier young talent... and if he doesn't screw up his plan, a top 3 pick in this draft (And another high 1st based on his existing Lou Will deal)...

I think it's safe to say Mitch is handing over a much better all around deal to Magic than he had 5 years ago when Jim took over.

So I'd just like to see the FO thank Mitch for the position they find themselves in today instead of going out of their way to essentially **** on his legacy... Remember, Mitch was around BEFORE Jim and never asked to report to him. In fact, I'm sure somewhere in the back of his mind, Mitch expected to be in Magic's role right now....

So, I get the family rift with Jim and I get that they wanted to go another way... But how they handled Mitch and are continuing to handle him, is Bush-League...

35 seasons with the team... 9 Rings... And you can't find a better way to get rid of him than this?

My Favorite Mitch Kupchac Lakers story:

After the Lakers pounded the Celtics 136-111 to take a 2-1 series lead, Celtics coach K.C. Jones complained about the Lakers’ physical play, including Kupchak’s defense on Robert Parish. “Push, shove, grab, that’s all part of the game. But when you’re trying to take someone’s head off, that’s different,” Jones said after the game. Kupchak, who scored seven points in 13 minutes but also had five fouls, responded by saying, “It’s not seven games at the Y,” according to Jere Longman of Knight-Ridder News Service.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1084976-lakers-gm-mitch-kupchak-10-nba-championship-rings-with-washington-bullets-la

Funny part about that is Parish was one of the toughest/borderline Dirty players in the league...

[stan francisco]

Mitch followed the toughest act in his profession in Jerry West, and he did so throughout multiple eras and a changing NBA landscape that chipped away at advantages we used to have. Dude kept us afloat, and without him we'd have turned into the Knicks long ago.

Enjoy whatever comes next, Mitch. And keep that wand of yours handy.

#Pau4Evr

This.

What a class act and a nice guy. I had hoped he would get to groom Ryan West as the next GM.

Mitch brought us multiple rings.

In yesterday's game, the kids played great at times. Before it's torn apart, with Russell, Ingram, Nance, Randle, Zubac, he put together a promising future for us.

Happy trails, Mitch! (Once Jim's fire cools off, we might bring you back as a consultant...)

[AmusingFiddle]

Happy to see Jim replaced but we should have kept Mitch and most definitely John Black a bit longer.

Maybe their ties and alliance to Jim were too strong....who knows.


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[LAKESHOW]

Maybe their ties and alliance to Jim were too strong....who knows.

s

Once again. Mitch was bamboozled by Jim. Mitch has to follow Jim's plan. Mitch had to buy into Jim's ideas. He is the owner. And what was the service and thanks for his years of faithful service, especially the last few directly under Jimmy? FIRED! This casualty does not fall in Magic. But it falls on Jimmy. And Mitch was scapegoated and pawned. Oh well, at least Jeanie finally made a move..

[LakersSoul]

How can a true Lakers fan not appreciate all that Mitch did for the team. That said, it was time to remove Jim and retire Mitch along with Jim which is unfortunate but necessary. We need new blood and I wonder if Mitch could have maneuvered around a building process in this new CBA era.

As much as Mitch has done, he and Jim surely stunk up the offseason by signing Moz and Deng for 4 years. I overpaid but 3 years and an option should have been the deal. SMH... We used to laugh at teams for making such desperate moves and this offseason, we were the desperate ones.

[NoCurse]

Yeah, those who we laughed at are now laughing at us.
The best thing to do last off season would have been to do almost nothing at all. If we had just punted, and not signed any big contracts, then we would have been in great shape for this off-season. Mitch may even still have his job.

[Kilroy]

This is an appreciation thread... Let's keep on subject.
The man's gone now... If you're happy about it, congrats, but I assure you, we've heard it all about a million times before, so...

Watch on YouTube

-Kilroy