Questioning Jeanie’s ability to be the owner the Lakers need

[Kilroy]

I think we're being impatient... At least give this front office group this off-season to see if they get a top tier free agent and produce a legit roster.

Don't think it's us that are being impatient, I think we're just reacting to what the FO is doing... And I do agree that they're being impatient...
Magic was stupidly impatient with Luke on a season both he and LeBron stated clearly was a building year... They were incredibly impatient with the AD situation...
And I think ultimately, that created turmoil in the FO... Now they're in a situation where they can't sit back and wait for the ideal time to do something to make it right...

And we only have LeBron for 4 seasons... Our window is this summer. Period. If we don't do this summer to perfection, we're essentially going back to full-rebuild mode.

So I don't think the fans are being impatient at all... We're all waiting for some sign that this FO has a clue what they're doing, and right now, we're not seeing it... Which wouldn't be a huge problem if we didn't basically have 4mos to make or break the next decade in all likelihood...

[leeprettyp]

I think we're being impatient... At least give this front office group this off-season to see if they get a top tier free agent and produce a legit roster.

Don't think it's us that are being impatient, I think we're just reacting to what the FO is doing... And I do agree that they're being impatient...
Magic was stupidly impatient with Luke on a season both he and LeBron stated clearly was a building year... They were incredibly impatient with the AD situation...
And I think ultimately, that created turmoil in the FO... Now they're in a situation where they can't sit back and wait for the ideal time to do something to make it right...

And we only have LeBron for 4 seasons... Our window is this summer. Period. If we don't do this summer to perfection, we're essentially going back to full-rebuild mode.

So I don't think the fans are being impatient at all... We're all waiting for some sign that this FO has a clue what they're doing, and right now, we're not seeing it... Which wouldn't be a huge problem if we didn't basically have 4mos to make or break the next decade in all likelihood...

I think the biggest issue going on is the Buss kids need to figure out a clear direction.... It's too many hands in the pot at this time. Since Dr. Buss death, i feel so many people Phil/Kurt & Linda/Magic are all fighting to run the basketball side of the family. It's dragging Jeanie everywhere

Honestly, I'd be okay with promoting the Buss boys Joey/Jesse and Ryan West into a circle with a few experienced consultants with Rob doing the GM job in a test run this upcoming season. I feel Joey/Jesse and Ryan are ready to be promoted.

If Phil is back around then it absolutely makes sense why Jeanie isn't open to bringing Jerry West back... I personally think that's a mistake. Let Jerry be in a consultant role with the new front office doing the leg work. Just my opinion

[leeprettyp]

I think we're being impatient... At least give this front office group this off-season to see if they get a top tier free agent and produce a legit roster.

Again, people aren't getting upset because the perfect POBO and head coach weren't hired immediately, the first day of the off-season. Its the decisions (or lack of) and antics of the front office over the past couple months that have shown gross incompetence across the board. They are showing they couldn't successfully operate a local McDonald's franchise, let alone a multi-billion dollar organization such as the Lakers.

I think the media is allowing agents (Aaron Mintz) and their agendas and influence to destroy Rob Pelinka from previous bad blood. The media knows even talking about the Lakers will generate attention. This current makeup of the front office arent even saying anything yet. We just gotta see if they really have a plan..... We don't know anything yet. I'm personally willing to wait and see before I make a judgement.

[Kilroy]

I think we're being impatient... At least give this front office group this off-season to see if they get a top tier free agent and produce a legit roster.

Don't think it's us that are being impatient, I think we're just reacting to what the FO is doing... And I do agree that they're being impatient...
Magic was stupidly impatient with Luke on a season both he and LeBron stated clearly was a building year... They were incredibly impatient with the AD situation...
And I think ultimately, that created turmoil in the FO... Now they're in a situation where they can't sit back and wait for the ideal time to do something to make it right...

And we only have LeBron for 4 seasons... Our window is this summer. Period. If we don't do this summer to perfection, we're essentially going back to full-rebuild mode.

So I don't think the fans are being impatient at all... We're all waiting for some sign that this FO has a clue what they're doing, and right now, we're not seeing it... Which wouldn't be a huge problem if we didn't basically have 4mos to make or break the next decade in all likelihood...

I think the biggest issue going on is the Buss kids need to figure out a clear direction.... It's too many hands in the pot at this time. Since Dr. Buss death, i feel so many people Phil/Kurt & Linda/Magic are all fighting to run the basketball side of the family. It's dragging Jeanie everywhere

Honestly, I'd be okay with promoting the Buss boys Joey/Jesse and Ryan West into a circle with a few experienced consultants with Rob doing the GM job in a test run this upcoming season. I feel Joey/Jesse and Ryan are ready to be promoted.

If Phil is back around then it absolutely makes sense why Jeanie isn't open to bringing Jerry West back... I personally think that's a mistake. Let Jerry be in a consultant role with the new front office doing the leg work. Just my opinion

I think Jeanie winning the court battle with Jim divided the Kids to the point they may not even be talking, or worse yet, don't really feel like they have a voice in what's going on... Remember Jeanie also became Chairman of the Board in all of that too... So I get the feeling they might only really come together to discuss dollars and cents at this point and the team itself may be a forbidden subject...
And also, I'm not convinced Jeanie even recognizes the need for a clear direction... I just picture one of those trophies in her office full of coke and anytime she starts to question anything, she just cracks it open and calls Linda over for a toot...

Jokes aside, I gotta believe the only reason Phil isn't already sitting at a desk in an office next to Jeanie, is because he doesn't want to create conflict with LeBron and his people... I think Phil is ultimately the "people close to Jeanie imploring her to trade LeBron."
Even if it is Rambis and his wife saying it (I don't believe Pelinka is that dumb), it's coming indirectly from Phil...
And if we do trade LeBron, I would bet anything, Phil would get the POBO job the next day...

But yeah, Brining Logo back for even a season or 2 is too good a story to not happen... I think even Doc would have seen that and bury the hatchet if for no other reason than to let West retire a Laker...
It's a pretty big sign of what's wrong with the Org that it hasn't already happened, actually... Jeanie probably, ultimately, doesn't want JW here because she assumes she'll be frozen out of the BBall talks... Which is exactly what needs to happen. She either is blind to the reality of the team right now, or she can't see her culpability in the situation... Until she does, we're probably in for more of the same...

I think promoting the "kids" so to speak, is a move you make if you've already won a couple chips and the team is solid... I don't think it's the right move for a team in turmoil like this... It would kind of be a **** thing to do to them, to dump this mess at their feet.

[Sushisensei26]

We overrate Ryan West's standing in the organization. We were all talking about giving him the GM job after Magic did his pathetic exit interview and since then Ryan has been completely marginalized. Even the Rambii are part of the interview team while Ryan is back in LA.

Also Jeannie keeps saying that what she learnt from her dad was that hire the best people and then get out of their way. She even got out Jim's way. I don't think the problem is that she thinks if Jerry West is back she won't have a say in basketball matters. I believe she is more than OK with that. It's just that for whatever reason (perhaps Jerry West said hell no) they have just not approached Jerry. It's too logical a move for this group of people to get right. SMH.

[Slava]

Zach Lowe really seems to like the younger Buss brothers as pretty competent. He said on his podcast with McMenamin that the Lakers had a large contingent of very smart people in tbe organization and the clowns like the Rambis couple, Pelinka etc in coaching interviews but it seemed like the smart people were only there to provide media cover for the dumbos. This is the second time he's mentioned this about the more competent people in tbe organization not being in decision .along process. The first time I couldn't make out who he was talking about. Small hope that they gain enough clout to kick Jeannie and the Rambis family out of basketball operations.

[leeprettyp]

Don't think it's us that are being impatient, I think we're just reacting to what the FO is doing... And I do agree that they're being impatient...
Magic was stupidly impatient with Luke on a season both he and LeBron stated clearly was a building year... They were incredibly impatient with the AD situation...
And I think ultimately, that created turmoil in the FO... Now they're in a situation where they can't sit back and wait for the ideal time to do something to make it right...

And we only have LeBron for 4 seasons... Our window is this summer. Period. If we don't do this summer to perfection, we're essentially going back to full-rebuild mode.

So I don't think the fans are being impatient at all... We're all waiting for some sign that this FO has a clue what they're doing, and right now, we're not seeing it... Which wouldn't be a huge problem if we didn't basically have 4mos to make or break the next decade in all likelihood...

I think the biggest issue going on is the Buss kids need to figure out a clear direction.... It's too many hands in the pot at this time. Since Dr. Buss death, i feel so many people Phil/Kurt & Linda/Magic are all fighting to run the basketball side of the family. It's dragging Jeanie everywhere

Honestly, I'd be okay with promoting the Buss boys Joey/Jesse and Ryan West into a circle with a few experienced consultants with Rob doing the GM job in a test run this upcoming season. I feel Joey/Jesse and Ryan are ready to be promoted.

If Phil is back around then it absolutely makes sense why Jeanie isn't open to bringing Jerry West back... I personally think that's a mistake. Let Jerry be in a consultant role with the new front office doing the leg work. Just my opinion

I think Jeanie winning the court battle with Jim divided the Kids to the point they may not even be talking, or worse yet, don't really feel like they have a voice in what's going on... Remember Jeanie also became Chairman of the Board in all of that too... So I get the feeling they might only really come together to discuss dollars and cents at this point and the team itself may be a forbidden subject...
And also, I'm not convinced Jeanie even recognizes the need for a clear direction... I just picture one of those trophies in her office full of coke and anytime she starts to question anything, she just cracks it open and calls Linda over for a toot...

Jokes aside, I gotta believe the only reason Phil isn't already sitting at a desk in an office next to Jeanie, is because he doesn't want to create conflict with LeBron and his people... I think Phil is ultimately the "people close to Jeanie imploring her to trade LeBron."
Even if it is Rambis and his wife saying it (I don't believe Pelinka is that dumb), it's coming indirectly from Phil...
And if we do trade LeBron, I would bet anything, Phil would get the POBO job the next day...

But yeah, Brining Logo back for even a season or 2 is too good a story to not happen... I think even Doc would have seen that and bury the hatchet if for no other reason than to let West retire a Laker...
It's a pretty big sign of what's wrong with the Org that it hasn't already happened, actually... Jeanie probably, ultimately, doesn't want JW here because she assumes she'll be frozen out of the BBall talks... Which is exactly what needs to happen. She either is blind to the reality of the team right now, or she can't see her culpability in the situation... Until she does, we're probably in for more of the same...

I think promoting the "kids" so to speak, is a move you make if you've already won a couple chips and the team is solid... I don't think it's the right move for a team in turmoil like this... It would kind of be a **** thing to do to them, to dump this mess at their feet.

Great post sir

[stan francisco]

She is the right person for the job. Trust me on that one

She's recently come out and said "this is her team" ... Meaning Bron bron can't come out and call the shots etc - sure he'll be the first to know, but him calling the shots won't happen

Give her time guys.

"She is bad ass"

I so hope you’re right.

[dockingsched]

I don’t know why people think she’s “great” at the business side. Not saying she’s not, just that she gets credit for it without any real reason. Lakers business success is basically guaranteed no matter who runs the operation.

She has (maybe had - at this point) the largest TV contract. Had highest revenues as a team, etc. The back end of the Lakers had been great, they sell out for years...get top $$ for seats, do lots of promotional stuff, events, alot of charity work. She's liked throughout the league, and respected.

Pick whatever word you wanna use....and while it may be "shooting fish in a bucket" in your eyes.....she's been doing it perfectly well. Not much better you can do than #1.

That's why I think she's great at the business side.

This all seems like it would run itself essentially. Is it really her negotiating skills that produced a substantial tv contract? Is it her marketing work that is the cause of selling out seats? You can claim yes, and I would easily claim no and I suppose we wouldn't be able to completely disprove each other.
But what we do have to go off of is how situations like the hunt for a new POBO is being handled. By the fact that we are targeting a coach first before addressing it tells me it is not being handled well. Having to see Linda/Kurt Rambis attached to every Laker decision instills in me a lack of confidence that she has any idea at all what she is doing on the business side.

An article today by ESPN provided a little insight that I found interesting in relation to giving Jeanie credit for the TV contract:

Read on Twitter

In talking about Tim Harris, the chief operating officer, the article says this:

Harris negotiated one of sports' largest regional TV deals, with Spectrum SportsNet in 2011, and helped secure partnerships with UCLA Health for the team's training facility and Wish as a jersey sponsor.

[Danny Darko]

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[Slava]

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[Kilroy]

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Problem is, Phil and Rambis may have just shockingly, pulled her butt out of the fire, with the Vogel hire...
If LeBron is satisfied, he'll start recruiting again, and it sounds like Vogel is relatively popular around the league, so it's looking to me at least, that we may still have a good shot at some of the top Free Agents...
And I'm also optimistic about our draft prospects.

So I think we have a solid shot at the playoffs this season...

Which is kind of unfortunate in the long run, because I still have no faith in this Org knowing how to shoot the gap after LeBron's contract expires... So in 3 years, unless we get a whole lot smarter and less dysfunctional, I'm afraid we may be looking at another full rebuild with Jeanie's Spa Day friends running the show...

[Slava]

AEG buying out the busses is still my favorite pipedream outcome.

[Michael Lucky]

It would be interesting to see what happens if Jim and Johnny sided with the minority owners since that would add to more than a 50% stake. Having said that, i know they need two other siblings to desolve the Buss family thrust but it would still be interesting to see the fallout.

[danfantastk32]

An article today by ESPN provided a little insight that I found interesting in relation to giving Jeanie credit for the TV contract:

Read on Twitter

In talking about Tim Harris, the chief operating officer, the article says this:

Harris negotiated one of sports' largest regional TV deals, with Spectrum SportsNet in 2011, and helped secure partnerships with UCLA Health for the team's training facility and Wish as a jersey sponsor.

I don't doubt that many people help. IMO, it just points out how her side of the business was rolling along.

[Slava]

https://streamable.com/6sc4p

[Landsberger]

So in 3 years, unless we get a whole lot smarter and less dysfunctional, I'm afraid we may be looking at another full rebuild with Jeanie's Spa Day friends running the show...

If they trade the youth and future first round picks (ala the Nash or Howard "deals") for a guy who can't make it through a full season we'll be in a hole deeper than ever as we won't even have an aging Kobe to make very 4th game watchable.

[madmaxmedia]

I think we're being impatient... At least give this front office group this off-season to see if they get a top tier free agent and produce a legit roster.

Don't think it's us that are being impatient, I think we're just reacting to what the FO is doing... And I do agree that they're being impatient...
Magic was stupidly impatient with Luke on a season both he and LeBron stated clearly was a building year... They were incredibly impatient with the AD situation...
And I think ultimately, that created turmoil in the FO... Now they're in a situation where they can't sit back and wait for the ideal time to do something to make it right...

And we only have LeBron for 4 seasons... Our window is this summer. Period. If we don't do this summer to perfection, we're essentially going back to full-rebuild mode.

So I don't think the fans are being impatient at all... We're all waiting for some sign that this FO has a clue what they're doing, and right now, we're not seeing it... Which wouldn't be a huge problem if we didn't basically have 4mos to make or break the next decade in all likelihood...

I think the biggest issue going on is the Buss kids need to figure out a clear direction.... It's too many hands in the pot at this time. Since Dr. Buss death, i feel so many people Phil/Kurt & Linda/Magic are all fighting to run the basketball side of the family. It's dragging Jeanie everywhere

Honestly, I'd be okay with promoting the Buss boys Joey/Jesse and Ryan West into a circle with a few experienced consultants with Rob doing the GM job in a test run this upcoming season. I feel Joey/Jesse and Ryan are ready to be promoted.

If Phil is back around then it absolutely makes sense why Jeanie isn't open to bringing Jerry West back... I personally think that's a mistake. Let Jerry be in a consultant role with the new front office doing the leg work. Just my opinion

It's not people dragging Jeannie around, it's her inability to hire the best POBO possible regardless of whether they were ex-Lakers. Guess what- hire a qualified POBO to a 5-year deal, and he becomes a Laker anyway. Hiring the right POBO would have been like hiring Phil Jackson the first time around- make the right, decisive move and that sets the tone for the next 5 years.

Heck, if she had just hired Jerry West as a consultant last offseason to help her fill out the FO and weigh on personnel decisions, Lakers would be fine now. But that shipped has passed, West is staying with the Clippers for at least another year and at his age this might be his last gig.

[madmaxmedia]

Read on Twitter

Problem is, Phil and Rambis may have just shockingly, pulled her butt out of the fire, with the Vogel hire...
If LeBron is satisfied, he'll start recruiting again, and it sounds like Vogel is relatively popular around the league, so it's looking to me at least, that we may still have a good shot at some of the top Free Agents...
And I'm also optimistic about our draft prospects.

So I think we have a solid shot at the playoffs this season...

Which is kind of unfortunate in the long run, because I still have no faith in this Org knowing how to shoot the gap after LeBron's contract expires... So in 3 years, unless we get a whole lot smarter and less dysfunctional, I'm afraid we may be looking at another full rebuild with Jeanie's Spa Day friends running the show...

Haven't you been keeping up with the news- it's her spin class friends, not the spa gang...

[madmaxmedia]

I think the media is allowing agents (Aaron Mintz) and their agendas and influence to destroy Rob Pelinka from previous bad blood. The media knows even talking about the Lakers will generate attention. This current makeup of the front office arent even saying anything yet. We just gotta see if they really have a plan..... We don't know anything yet. I'm personally willing to wait and see before I make a judgement.

Although it is possible Pelinka will do a great job in his expanded GM role, his lack of experience and the results last year make me very doubtful. You are right in that they haven't said anything publicly yet and we don't actually know what their personnel plans are this offseason.

However, the lack of any public statements or interviews after Magic's resignation and the back and forth on the HC hiring isn't a good sign in itself. They are aware of all these narratives out there, but I don't think they have a powerful enough voice or direction to publicly address it all.