ESPN: Lakers 2.0 The failed reboot

[Revived]

From ESPN article Slava posted:

"There was one time when Kobe, who I worked with for 18 years, was going back to play in Madison Square Garden, and he had just seen 'The Dark Knight,'" Pelinka said. "Obviously, you guys saw that movie, and he's like, 'Hey, hook me up with dinner with Heath Ledger, because he got so locked into that role. I want to know how he mentally went there.' So, he had dinner with Heath, and he talked about how he locks in for a role.

"And Kobe used some of that in his game against the Knicks."

"The Dark Knight" was released in July 2008, six months after Ledger died. A source with direct knowledge said no such arrangement was made and no dinner ever took place.

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Dwayne Johnson’s facial expression when Pelinka is telling the story is just killing me.

[stan francisco]

Imagine if this led to ousting Rob and bringing in Riley? Then we totally won free agency... The rest of the league would probably Rumple Stiltskin itself through the floor.

I'm waiting for Kobe to come out and tell folks how he got a copy of Batman before it was released which tons of people do.. Voting members of the Academy all get copies before the final edit is even done, as do others within the industry, all it takes is connections and with Kobe's love of the industry I wouldn't doubt for a minute he had access to movies well before their official release

Members of each discipline’s guild get academy screeners ahead of the Oscars, but it is never a semi finished version of the film, always the finished version.

[gts1]

Imagine if this led to ousting Rob and bringing in Riley? Then we totally won free agency... The rest of the league would probably Rumple Stiltskin itself through the floor.

I'm waiting for Kobe to come out and tell folks how he got a copy of Batman before it was released which tons of people do.. Voting members of the Academy all get copies before the final edit is even done, as do others within the industry, all it takes is connections and with Kobe's love of the industry I wouldn't doubt for a minute he had access to movies well before their official release

Members of each discipline’s guild get academy screeners ahead of the Oscars, but it is never a semi finished version of the film, always the finished version.

Not true.. My wife works for a voting member, we have a stack of screeners in various levels of editing... sometimes leading into the voting season we'll get an updated copy every two weeks starting in late October

[stan francisco]

I'm waiting for Kobe to come out and tell folks how he got a copy of Batman before it was released which tons of people do.. Voting members of the Academy all get copies before the final edit is even done, as do others within the industry, all it takes is connections and with Kobe's love of the industry I wouldn't doubt for a minute he had access to movies well before their official release

Members of each discipline’s guild get academy screeners ahead of the Oscars, but it is never a semi finished version of the film, always the finished version.

Not true.. My wife works for a voting member, we have a stack of screeners in various levels of editing... sometimes leading into the voting season we'll get an updated copy every two weeks starting in late October

I stand corrected then. I’m not a voting member, maybe that’s why.

[Slava]

Pelinka needs to go, he's a pathological liar who basically threw Hart under the bus there.

[Kilroy]

Found this when I was off checking the news... Figured I drop it here fwiw...

SAS and all that... But saying Kobe's pissed he's getting dragged into this.

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[Kilroy]

Pelinka needs to go, he's a pathological liar who basically threw Hart under the bus there.

Aren't a lot of these things relatively old though? I'm just scanning but it seemed like old stuff coming out now...

My point is, I can't see Jeanie dumping Rob now... It would be tough to get someone in here in time for the draft and the start of free agency, as much as I'd like to see it happen...

I just think, like it or not, this is the FO we're going to roll with until all the chips fall from the draft to FA, to the trade deadline... If by then, enough BS and lack of delivery has happened, Jeanie will probably be facing enough pressure from fans and the board, that she might be forced to clean house... But right now it just seems like she's trying to ride out the storm and get a team on the court that will make people forget about this summer.

[BEazy]

Fire Pelinka and hire Pat Riley!

[Revived]

Found this when I was off checking the news... Figured I drop it here fwiw...

SAS and all that... But saying Kobe's pissed he's getting dragged into this.

Read on Twitter

This can’t be true because Kobe was given that last enormous contract (when he was like 36) with the understanding that he would be associated with the Lakers and help the Lakers in whatever capacity needed after retirement.

This was widely reported by numerous people when fans were yelling and screaming about how bad that contract was.

Lakers need Kobe now. He needs to support the team publicly and get their back. This moment is why he was given a contract which was about $30M more than he was actually worth when he was washed up.

[gts1]

Media keeps mentioning Kobe every chance they get.... Media then reports Kobe is livid because his name keeps getting mentioned

[Michael Lucky]

Fire Pelinka and hire Pat Riley!

A GM with Riley's reputation isnt coming here until ownership figure their **** out or sell the team.

[Lakernut4ever]

Fire Pelinka and hire Pat Riley!

A GM with Riley's reputation isnt coming here until ownership figure their **** out or sell the team.

He might....if the front office even asked at all in the first place

[tv24lakers]

Taking a moment to view this drama from Lebron’s point of view, I would be inclined to ask for a trade. Between the leaked reports and Magic’s running appearances on ESPN, the Lakers organization is looking worse each day.

Regardless of who truly is at fault, I really have 0 interest in Magic ever coming back to the Lakers in some managerial or ownership capacity.

If I’m a big name free agent I do not want to come here with the current org structure in tact.

We will have to make moves via trade and offer fluffy free agent contracts.

[zimpy27]

Maybe this all apart of the new space jam movie.

Perhaps the monstars just took the "ability" from the front office.

It's as good as an explanation as a can see for the weird levels of ineptitude.

[tlifeset]

I'm at the point that this is all 100% hilarious to me.

The NBA Media Circus has finally found their Trump, i.e. their polarizing page view/ratings driver that they can milk to death with literally any take. And that is the Lakers & Lebron.

It doesn't even matter what's true, fake, gray area, out of bounds, off limits, on the record, etc. All that matters is eyes and ears.

Finals aren't starting until Thursday? Perfect. Let's run the Lakers piece.
Western Finals boring af? No matter. Let's get Magic on and side swipe their new coach.
No Lebron in the playoffs? F it. Let's say he's pissed at the Lakers and that Rich Paul is running the team.
Boom! Now Lebron is IN THE PLAYOFFS!

Look at Chris Broussard. His career is now trying to troll NBA players and poke the Twitter bear until they respond back - just so they can then report on the player responding!

Stephen A. can lie about everything. His so called sources tell him that everyone hates Rob and nobody picks up his phone calls but then we see the Lakers make trades, sign free agents, draft players and Rob himself having discussions with GMs and PoBOs at the combine. Doesn't matter - Stephen A. will yell louder and he'll be on to some other hotter take before anyone has a chance to respond.

The sad thing is that Lakers media has bought into it too - hook, line and sinker. There is zero nuance or intelligent discourse around the team. They just need to give subjective opinions on the news stories of the day. Nobody questions any story - they just perpetuate it to an irate Laker nation.

Haha. I have to laugh. All of it is amusing to me.

We as Laker fans are supposed to be pissed because we didn't get Monty Williams or Tyronne Lue? Really? It's not like we lost out on popovich and steve kerr!

Frank Vogul is our third choice? Really? because he was interviewed third and agreed to our terms?

Kawhi is going to pick the clippers for sure? Really? because they've literally never signed a marquee free agent and their scrappy team of vets who finally stayed healthy clawed their way into the playoffs?

Magic berated everyone? Really? because people who got fired because the change of culture wanted to bitch about their teams beyond their scathing glassdoor reviews? what company DOESN'T have that issue?

Sure. Just keep on piping in the news everyone.

I'll be laughing... feeling very confident in our offseason plans and our team next year. And like most Lakers seasons... i'll enjoy having the last laugh.

[tv24lakers]

I'm at the point that this is all 100% hilarious to me.

The NBA Media Circus has finally found their Trump, i.e. their polarizing page view/ratings driver that they can milk to death with literally any take. And that is the Lakers & Lebron.

It doesn't even matter what's true, fake, gray area, out of bounds, off limits, on the record, etc. All that matters is eyes and ears.

Finals aren't starting until Thursday? Perfect. Let's run the Lakers piece.
Western Finals boring af? No matter. Let's get Magic on and side swipe their new coach.
No Lebron in the playoffs? F it. Let's say he's pissed at the Lakers and that Rich Paul is running the team.
Boom! Now Lebron is IN THE PLAYOFFS!

Look at Chris Broussard. His career is now trying to troll NBA players and poke the Twitter bear until they respond back - just so they can then report on the player responding!

Stephen A. can lie about everything. His so called sources tell him that everyone hates Rob and nobody picks up his phone calls but then we see the Lakers make trades, sign free agents, draft players and Rob himself having discussions with GMs and PoBOs at the combine. Doesn't matter - Stephen A. will yell louder and he'll be on to some other hotter take before anyone has a chance to respond.

The sad thing is that Lakers media has bought into it too - hook, line and sinker. There is zero nuance or intelligent discourse around the team. They just need to give subjective opinions on the news stories of the day. Nobody questions any story - they just perpetuate it to an irate Laker nation.

Haha. I have to laugh. All of it is amusing to me.

We as Laker fans are supposed to be pissed because we didn't get Monty Williams or Tyronne Lue? Really? It's not like we lost out on popovich and steve kerr!

Frank Vogul is our third choice? Really? because he was interviewed third and agreed to our terms?

Kawhi is going to pick the clippers for sure? Really? because they've literally never signed a marquee free agent and their scrappy team of vets who finally stayed healthy clawed their way into the playoffs?

Magic berated everyone? Really? because people who got fired because the change of culture wanted to bitch about their teams beyond their scathing glassdoor reviews? what company DOESN'T have that issue?

Sure. Just keep on piping in the news everyone

I'll be laughing... feeling very confident in our offseason plans and our team next year. And like most Lakers seasons... i'll enjoy having the last laugh.

Since you raised the parallel to civilian/corporate society, allow me to share my views. For individuals that are a bit more selective about their employer, such as myself, this corporate executive level dysfunction is truly counterproductive and would give me pause.

Now, if the price is right I’m willing to look past the upheaval. Similarly some players may look past it if the money is extra generous.

[iamworthy]

Please tell me that Jeannie didn't really like the tweet from silver screen and roll

[MAMBAEMD]

The sky is definitely not falling but there is a void in leadership right now with the P & G.
Jeanie, or somebody need to step up and calm the storm.

And of course, everyone is going to try to pile on the Lakers.
That's just how it goes when you are the most popular and one of the most successful sports franchises in history.
They can all kiss our 16 rings.

[john248]

I don't care that a news outlet posts a negative story or ANY story about the Lakers. That's to be expected. Any story good or bad about the Lakers generates buzz.

The Lakers have no one else to blame but themselves. As a fan, I cannot get mad at ESPN reporting this. I cannot get mad at those who are leaking the story.

The second Magic stepped down, rumors of Pelinka being unliked in the league had surfaced, and even though the rumors started with Magic, no one came to Pelinka's defense other than a few people. Beating on a dead horse here, but Jeannie should've hired a new president and cleaned house. Now the Lakers are doomed to repeat past failures.

Pelinka wants no resistance, is afraid to delegate responsibility to others, and has to lie to get a point across. He hired Vogel because he's a yes man. He will craft a roster not because he feels it's best for winning but because of some ties to him.

I have zero faith in the front office and ownership because Jeannie is so afraid of failure that she's letting the situation control her rather than the other way around.

[stan francisco]

Click bait times...

This is humorous. Pelinka, however, should be worried. After the draft and the ensuing trades and FA deals are done (without Magic), let’s revisit Rob’s performance.