Los Angeles Lakers business plan changed by Magic Johnson
By Ronald Agers
Joe Lacob had a vision AND a plan while Jeanie Buss relied on tradition.
Here’s a fact that might shock many. The Los Angeles Lakers franchise is considered a family business. Yes, it is true.
Most franchises, like the Dallas Mavericks owned by Mark Cuban or the Miami Heat owned by Micky Arison, is one of many businesses owned by these men. Most of the owners in the NBA share the same situation.
The Los Angeles Lakers, owned by Jeanie Buss, is the family’s biggest business. With a family business, sometimes relationships and business get mixed and you tend to get into trouble.
The Golden State Warriors were bought in 2010 by a corporate group led by Joe Lacob and they had a five-year plan put together to win a World Championship.
The plan was not popular at first. To allow room for Stephen Curry to develop, the Warriors traded popular guard and leading scorer Monta Ellis. Warriors fans are gleeful and love Joe Lacob now, but it was not always that way. Take a listen to Chris Mullin’s retirement ceremony.
It got so bad, Rick Barry had to tell the fans to show some respect. Rick Barry also seems to know basketball because his words about something “special” came true.
Then Lacob noticed that the head coach at the time and the front office wasn’t on the right page. Oh, you know who that was right? One of the coaches on the Lakers rumored coaching list, Mark Jackson. Lacob discussed the issues between him and Jackson years ago.
"“Part of it was that he couldn’t get along with anybody else in the organization,” Lacob said. “And look, he did a great job, and I’ll always compliment him in many respects, but you can’t have 200 people in the organization not like you.” And when I say the organization as a whole I don’t mean just the team and just the 15 players that are involved and the coaching staff. I mean everybody. There’s 200 employees here. So when we look at the organization going forward and the kind of coach we want and… not just the performance but everything else, all these factors matter. We took all that account."
That led to the dismissal of Jackson and the hiring of Steve Kerr. Check out the difference between the two.
"“Right now, (Kerr) looks great,” Lacob said at the Western Association of Venture Capitalists/National Venture Capital Association luncheon Wednesday. “I think he will be great. And he did the one big thing that I wanted more than anything else from Mark Jackson he just wouldn’t do, in all honesty, which is hire the very best. “Carte blanche. Take my wallet. Do whatever it is to get the best assistants there are in the world. Period. End of story. Don’t want to hear it. And (Jackson’s) answer . . . was, ‘Well, I have the best staff.’ No you don’t. And so with Steve, very, very different.”"
Does any of this sound familiar? Coaching staff issues? Sounds like the exact same problems that Magic had with Luke Walton and his staff. The difference was Jeanie Buss always protected Walton during the season. It caused issues that went down to the locker room and caused problems and drama all season long.
The Lakers believe that certain people should be part of the organization. They believe that everyone is not built for the Lakers. Okay, that’s cool in the 1980s. The 90’s? Okay, I’ll buy that, but what about now?
Jeanie Buss and the Magic Johnson pairing was put together over Dr. Jerry Buss last wishes when he was alive. The Lakers were left for Jeanie and her brothers, most notably, Jim to run it.
When relationships got sour within the siblings, the Lakers got worse. After Jeanie fired her brother, Jim Buss, and Mitch Kupchak and placed Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka in power nothing changed. The players changed but the issues stayed the same.