5/27/2019
The endless saga surrounding the Lakers and their problems and drama is finally over if you consider the beginning the end. The franchise that now has missed the postseason six consecutive years, are still continuing to go downhill even after the season considering the dilemmas and debacles the front office and management have been facing. The former president of operations Magic Johnson has stepped down from power without even notifying the owner Jeanie Buss. Before I had my assumptions about what I thought was the reason behind Magic stepping down and how it was something going on behind closed curtains that they weren\’t telling us about. But since it has been confirmed that everything I suspected was actually spot on I have no more reason to speculate.
When Magic was in office and he wanted to remove head coach at the time Luke Walton, the move was given a thumbs up by Buss. However, when he came to her with the idea of moving General Manager at the time Rob Pelinka, she found him as being immovable. Pelinka and Buss are very close after being together for several years. Having this close bond and him being in her ear for almost every move they made, could be quite frustrating for somebody that was in Magic’s position. As president of basketball operation, Magic should only have to answer to the owner of the team Jeanie Buss, but after multiple conferences where Magic had to consult with Buss as well as Pelinka, he finally got fed up and decided to step down. This seems to be putting relationships with close friends over what would be best for business. The franchise has since hired Frank Vogel as head coach whose accolades, to me have been less than impressive. Vogel brought the Indiana Pacers to the Eastern Conference Finals back in 2014 with the help of a breakout season all-star, Paul George, as well as an all-star nod in the same year for coaching that same team.
I feel like this move is just temporary because Jason Kidd, the person that most people think would be a more valuable asset as head coach, has been hired as an assistant under Vogel. It seems like the whole organization is lost in the hands of Buss as Pelinka somehow managed to swindle his way from a former agent to general manager to now President of all basketball operations. This is still hard to believe because I highly doubt that his basketball knowledge could even compare to that of Magic Johnson’s.
Pelinka used to manage former all-star Carlos Boozer back when he was a dominant force in the paint when he played for Cleveland. If he would’ve stayed in Cleveland, he possibly would have won a championship with a youthful LeBron, but his agent Pelinka preferred the move to the Utah Jazz as a better career move for his client Boozer over the move to just stay in Cleveland. The following year after this move, who would’ve thought that the young phenom LeBron would manage to bring his team to the NBA Finals? Nonetheless, the Lakers are still trying to turn things around and needless to say, we all will continue to stay tuned in to see what their next moves shall be.