2. The Lakers front office (hear me out)
LA has some of the most passionate fans in the world, especially when we’re talking basketball. With a storied franchise like the Los Angeles Lakers, expectations by fans are high. Often unrealistic, but high nonetheless.
For the past couple of seasons, one could make the case for the Lake Show to be taken off the air. I mean, my goodness they were horrific, and a lot of that blame fell on the shoulder of the Lakers’ front office – namely Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak.
The front office doesn’t get a ton of credit for the work they do. Fans would argue that Adam Morrison was a key part of the Lakers’ championship run in 2010 before saying something nice about LA’s management.
Fans would argue that Adam Morrison was a key part of the Lakers’ championship run in 2010 before saying something nice about LA’s management.
While a ton of that criticism is warranted, things could be a lot worse. If there was a good example of rebuilding “the right way” in the NBA, the Lakes are it. When you compare LA’s rebuilding efforts to that of Philadelphia’s or Sacramento’s (?), the front office deserves a round of applause.
Not only have they drafted extremely well over the past couple of seasons, but they also mastered the art of tanking in the process. They surrounded a broken Kobe Bryant with enough washed up talent for the league not to be too suspect of their plan to run the team to the floor.
Did anyone really think a roster headlined by Carlos Boozer, Wesley Johnson and Ronnie Price was going to win games? The answer is an astounding hell yes. Why? Because Lakers fans, often to a fault, are delusional.
Buss and Kupchak did a great job of putting together a semi-respectable NBA roster without hurting their financial flexibility.
The trades for Jeremy Lin, Roy Hibbert and Jose Calderon’s expiring contract and a few assets? Brilliant.
Signing Lou Williams and Nick Young on dirt cheap, multi-year deals? Bravo.
Dumping Byron Scott for an up and coming Luke Walton? Priceless. Speaking of that handsome little devil.