Jeanie Buss took over as the president of the Los Angeles Lakers following her father Jerry’s death in 2013, and that year was the last time the team reached the playoffs. After six consecutive seasons of not being able to contend for a championship, Jeanie Buss may be feeling the pressure to step down.
During an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” on Monday, Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times spoke about how some of the Lakers’ minority owners are growing impatient with the way Buss is running the team. That apparently includes AEG, which owns the Staples Center and 27 percent of the Lakers.
. @BillPlaschke on @dpshow this morning talking about how the other minority owners of the Lakers (@AEGworldwide) are even more upset than the fans are regarding how the team is being run. If @JeanieBuss drops the ball this summer there could be an interesting coup with ownership
— Los Angeles Shambles (@FourtyPlusFour) May 13, 2019
“Their business side is tremendous. It’s the best in town. It’s one of the best in all of pro sports. They signed the best TV deal in the history of pro sports,” Plaschke said. “They’re making a ton of money, but the thought here is one more year of this nonsense and it’s gonna start to really affect the brand and affect the partners and affect the season ticket holders.”
Signing LeBron James was supposed to be the big move that propelled the Lakers back into the playoffs, and it still could next season and beyond. However, that plan did not work out this season, and Magic Johnson abruptly quit on the team not long before a completely botched coaching search.
In addition to some Lakers owners, players are reportedly embarrassed by the current state of the team. They simply aren’t living up to the standard established by Jerry Buss, and you can understand why minority owners would be getting tired of it.
