Will Jeanie Buss Really Hold Jim Buss Accountable?
By Scott Asai
Oct 8, 2013; Ontario, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss attends the game against the Denver Nuggets at Citizens Business Bank Arena. The Lakers defeated the Nuggest 90-88. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanie Buss was asked on Tuesday night if she would hold her brother Jim accountable if the Lakers weren’t championship contenders by 2016-17. This is her response:
“Yeah, of course, but I don’t see why — given the resources, given our legacy, given who our head coach is, who our front office is — [we’ll have] any problem. – Jeanie Buss”
Organizationally, Jim Buss is the Vice President of Basketball Operations.
Jeanie Buss is the President, but spends more of her time managing the business side.
Where the confusion lies is who is really in charge.
Jeanie, the more competent and better-liked sibling, publicly claims she yields the final hammer, but it has yet to be seen.
Ever since 2005 when Jim Buss was promoted to Vice President of Basketball Operations by his late father Dr. Jerry Buss he has hid from the public. From his drafting of Andrew Bynum to the hiring of Mike D’Antoni, the moves made haven’t been all bad until his dad started to get ill.
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Prior to his dad’s sickness, Jim had to run everything by his dad and Mitch Kupchak. In 2011 when Phil Jackson retired as coach of the Lakers, Jim Buss’ leadership finally reared it’s ugly head.
Jim cleared the Lakers organization of anything Phil Jackson related from scouts to ball boys. Clearly a power-play by an insecure man, he made desperate moves in succession that lacked strategy:
– Mike Brown was hired, then fired 5 games into his second season.
– Steve Nash was acquired and Dwight Howard was traded for.
– Mike D’Antoni was brought in over Phil Jackson.
Jim Buss can’t be held completely responsible for Steve Nash breaking down, then disappearing, but his decision to cater to Nash instead of Dwight’s wishes of hiring Phil Jackson were unforgivable.
Howard was never a good fit for the Lakers from the start, but hiring Phil Jackson would have given the Lakers a chance to see if it could work. Instead, Dwight bolted for Houston and we’re left wondering where Nash vanished off to.
Why didn’t this “3-year window” start in 2011?
That is when Jim Buss started making moves with full control of basketball operations.
The Lakers are headed in the right direction thanks to Byron Scott as Head Coach, but the Lakers are near the bottom of the standings because of a myriad of mistakes including a mismatched roster created by Jim Buss over the past 3 years.
If the Lakers strike gold in the 2015 Draft and/or Free Agency, it has little to do with Jim’s leadership.
We’re in a rebuilding phase not because it’s a cycle, but because poor decisions put us here.
Family run businesses tend to get messy and we can only hope as fans that Jeanie takes charge and replaces Jim soon. We need the person making the Lakers’ basketball decisions to be the best at what he/she does.
It may not be Dr. Buss’ wish, but Jeanie needs to separate her blood ties and hire a more competent leader to steer the Lakers’ ship.