The Los Angeles Lakers rushed agent Rob Pelinka in the door as their new general manager, leaving a lot of other candidates in the cold, including numerous potential minority hires.
Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated spoke to eight high-ranking black NBA executives who, while not bitter toward Pelinka or Magic Johnson, were disappointed to not even get the opportunity to interview for the general manager position.
“It’s always done in private and way in advance,” one high-ranking black executive said of the Pelinka hire. “We got no shot once the news breaks.”
Another executive admitted they were “surprised” to hear of the hire.
The executives largely pointed to Pelinka’s influence with Kobe Bryant as the reason he got the job with no competition.
“Los Angeles has always been about hype,” another high-ranking black NBA team executive said. “Kobe obviously had influence in getting Pelinka pushed through the door.”
“I heard that this was coming,” added another. “He has a real connection with Kobe.”
For black executives, they don’t feel entitled to jobs like the Lakers’ GM position, but they’d like a fair shot at interviewing for them – a shot many feel they don’t get.
“Nothing surprises me in this business,” one black executive said. “Analytic guys getting jobs. Coaches being named executives. Now it’s the agents’ turn. Everyone except the people who have the practical basketball experience are getting shots.”
Pelinka was hired very abruptly on Tuesday, the same day Johnson was named Lakers president. Since the NBA has nothing like the NFL’s Rooney Rule, they were able to install Pelinka immediately – much to the chagrin of some qualified candidates.
