Jeanie Buss is making some serious boss moves with the Lakers.
After hiring Magic Johnson and then ousting her brother Jim as the VP of Basketball Operations and GM Mitch Kupchak, there is no doubt who is calling the shots for the Lakers now — Jeanie and her other siblings.
Jeanie and Jim began having friction a few years ago when the Lakers botched the hiring of Phil Jackson as head coach to bring in Mike D’Antoni, who was stupidly jettisoned for Byron Scott. As the Lakers continually sunk into embarrassment, Jeanie put the pressure on her brother to turn things around or step down. Now he is out of his position, and Jeanie says her only mistake was not pulling the trigger sooner.
“This was a very difficult decision,” Buss said on Spectrum Sportsnet Tuesday, via Pro Basketball Talk. “It was probably so hard for me to make that I probably waited too long. And for that, I apologize to Lakers fans. But now with clarity and direction, and talking to with Ervin, really knowing a change was needed, and that’s why we’re here today.”
She also talked about the timing of the decision to change things up just two days before the trade deadline.
“It’s something I thought about for a long time, and once the decision became clear in my mind there was really no reason to wait,” Buss said. “In today’s NBA there is no offseason. You’re constantly preparing for the draft, for the season, for Summer League, so there was no time like the present.”
This is the ultimate humiliation for Jim. But he did say he would step down if the Lakers hadn’t returned to success by now, and so far the results are not pretty. Magic has his work cut out for him, that’s for sure.
