Magic wanted a smarter guy than him to be the Lakers General Manager; he hired Kobe Bryant’s former agent and friend Rob Pelinka.
Kobe Bryant is in the house! Kobe Bryant returned to the Lakers practice facility. What brought him there? His former agent and newly hired Lakers General Manager Rob Pelinka. Kobe brought Vanessa for the announcement which was aired on the Sportsnet Lakers channel.
Lakers fans should be dancing in the streets of Los Angeles. A new era began today with synergistic leadership, it was written in stone today.
Magic Johnson introduced Pelinka with a huge smile on his face, “It’s a truly exciting day that I can know my running-mate is here.” Magic started by thanking Jeanie Buss and the entire Buss family for putting their trust in them. Then he introduced Pelinka, “Rob is an incredible young man, he is very intelligent, smart — he knows talent — to represent one of the greatest players that’s ever played this game, and who wore the Laker jersey proud — to understand what that meant — what I like about Rob is that he is competitive like I am.”
It became abundantly clear throughout the press conference that Kobe is back in some capacity with the Lakers Organization. At the very least, he is Rob Pelinka’s best friend.
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Magic gave us the reason why he hired his wingman: Pelinka understands the CBA, the Salary Cap, he has relationships throughout the league, he understands college talent and the “new age” player in the NBA. “I wanted someone who understood the Lakers,” said Magic.
Pelinka is a Michigan Wolverine, played in several NCAA tournaments in college as a part of the “Fab 5” and that includes a Final Four appearance. That gave Magic some pause, being a rival Michigan State Spartan, but he dismissed the fact they were college rivals and pulled the trigger. The two have a bet on the Michigan vs. Michigan State conference game coming up shortly.
Pelinka told the media he is a story teller by nature. He wants to do things a bit differently, and he sees this as a calling. Magic focused on a ‘commitment to excellence.’ He wants the Lakers to be the “Gold Standard,” and the vision that he, Jeanie and Magic have is “Like-minded.”
Pelinka spoke about why he felt being the Lakers GM was a calling, “I will never forget in May of 2007 the Lakers franchise was kind of at a pivot point,” said Pelinka. Dr. Buss asked everyone at the table ‘What’s a way to get the Lakers back to prominence?’ Dr. Buss called both Kobe and Rob to his house, and everyone sat around the table and shared their vision of the future and what needed to change. Pelinka was in awe of Dr. Buss for the way he solved problems, “It was powerful.”
He mentioned the “amazing leaders” in this room, and he said he was going to collaborate with everyone like Dr. Buss envisioned. He explained that Jeanie and Magic were going to guide the vision and he and his team was going to architect it to make it happen.
“Maybe it’s a little like ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ you spend enough time together, and things happen,” quipped Pelinka who gave up a successful business like Magic Johnson had too to run the Lakers.
Who are the Lakers becoming and evolving into? Per the new GM the one word to describe it is the word “CARES,” which he says he is close to the word “LAKERS.” The Lakers are going to care for the players, the media, the fans, that will be at the center of everything.
Pelinka described Jeanie Buss as “An incredible leader with courage and vision — a heart of gold,” and he is happy his five-year-old daughter Emory has a woman to look up to and emulate.
“Kobe what Michelangelo is to art, what Beethoven is to music was Shakespeare is to words, you are to me a friend, and you are to the Lakers,” Pelinka
Having Kobe and Vanessa was very special for Rob, he says they are friends. He called Kobe and Vanessa when his son Durham hit his head and had to go to the hospital. Rob explained that they beat him to the hospital, and Kobe and Vanessa held his son while he was stitched up. “Kobe what Michelangelo is to art, what Beethoven is to music was Shakespeare is to words, you are to me a friend, and you are to the Lakers,” Pelinka publicly exclaimed to Kobe, who was sitting in the front row.
Rob spoke directly to his head coach Luke Walton, “Luke, we could not have a better coach — everyone loves you, you have this genuine honesty and coolness about you that wants every player in the league wants you to be his coach.”
The Lakers are a family business, and he spoke about Magic and his family, and that will continue to be important.
After opening statements, Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka took on the media answering questions.
On Young Talent – “We have to develop young players, but we have to add to that core too — I could go through the whole list.” But he needs a strong core, and he feels Luke needs that to win. “We have to get better talent for Luke to coach,” said Pelinka.
Kobe – “There is no way to separate Kobe’s impact from the Lakers — like the sugar in your coffee.” Pelinka and Magic spoke about how Kobe is re-engaged with Lakers management to talk basketball. The three of them will have dinner and talk about the Lakers future. “I wouldn’t be who I am without Kobe in my life — clearly my life has his fingerprints all over it,”
Pelinka left the door open for Kobe to help the Lakers organization officially. But Rob and Magic will be picking his brain on the players he played with. Magic explained that whatever Kobe wants to do, he should be able to do it.
Relationships with Agents – Rob has gotten to know what is important to a player when they sign with an NBA Team. When players talk about the Lakers, he wants them all wanting to play on the Lakers. Pelinka has represented players on all the 30 NBA teams, so he has an idea what they all offer and he wants to take bits and pieces from all 30 teams.
Relationships with GM’s – Magic loves that Pelinka also has relationships with all the GM’s, that has to help with trades, and convincing players to come to the Lakers.
The Makeup of the team – “We are going to be committed to Excellence every day — We are implementing a plan as we speak in making moves to have the best talent in this building — to predict whether that is one or five years is unpredictable.”
Feeling of the Lakers – “This LA Platform, this Lakers brand — cannot be replicated.”
Collective Bargaining Agreement – They will travel to New York to find out more about the new CBA and will attend a day and a half of sessions to understand the details. They will have to get creative.
Steepest learning curve – “This franchise consists of 200-250 employees, and our job is to make sure that all of those team members are functioning as a well-oiled machine and together,” Pelinka shared. It’s the biggest hill to climb for him, and he is excited about the new facility which will be “The best in the world.” He called the opportunity, “Lakers 2.0.”
Lakers Staff – They are evaluating all the employees in their organization, to make sure they have the right people. Kind of sounds like they want Jeanie/Magic/Rob supportive employees.
A Calling – “It didn’t feel like a decision, it felt like a true calling.” Rob saw a Syrian refugee wearing a Lakers jersey, and that gave him hope to, “Bring joy and hope to everyone across the world.” He wants to bring hope to the people who need it, and Magic concurs.
Champions – “We have a championship coach and Ervin, and I are going to put in a championship evaluation system.” They want a people of integrity who understand the Champions in the Lakers and what they stand for.
Magic on the need for players to be consistent – “All of them have to get more consistent — everyone across the board — Last night was a joy to watch, they were into it, thy were into each other, they supported each other, they were talking to each other,” said Magic.
Defense – “We have 17-18 games remaining — we will evaluate the talent — we know we have to get better at defense — we are going to get together with Luke, and we will talk about those things this after this season — our players are working hard at it,” explained Magic. He wants the team to play basketball “The right way.” He hopes he has money to chase free agents.
Who’s the Big Boss? – Pelinka and Magic will work very closely with Luke because Pelinka has said that the best organizations in the league are successful because of the collaboration. The two along with the Coach Walton will take their plans up to Jeanie Buss, and she will say yes or no.
College Tournaments – The scouts are out watching all the college conference tournaments, especially Duke vs. North Carolina and Arizona vs. UCLA.
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If you could place a client anywhere in the world, the Lakers are the team they will sign up with, if it is up to Magic and Rob. “We will win back the fans eventually — The Lakers are the heartbeat of the City,” said Magic.