Every time we think we’ve heard the worst of the dysfunction within the Los Angeles Lakers, a new report pulls back another curtain to reveal the latest mess within the organization.
Baxter Holmes’ latest for ESPN goes into great detail regarding the many layers of problems within the organization. It includes anecdotes centering on the recently-departed Magic Johnson’s “fear mongering,” general manager Rob Pelinka’s lack of trustworthiness as illustrated by unbelievable fabricated stories, an overall lack of communication throughout the franchise’s leadership structure, and the attempt by Rich Paul, agent of LeBron James, to get the coach fired by the commissioner of the NBA.
It was simultaneously unbelievable and, in a gigantic indictment of where the Lakers are right now, seemingly par for the course in what has been a season of unmitigated disasters in Los Angeles.
The Lakers missed the playoffs in their first season with LeBron, during which they saw most of their key players go down at some point or another with various injuries. They signed a baffling array of veterans to go along with James, most of whom confused the coaching staff as to what the plan was. Trade rumors effectively stripped away any chemistry and trust that had been built within the locker room. Young players thought LeBron was working back channels to get them traded for Anthony Davis, with rumors about trade packages offered by the Lakers for the Pelicans star being readily available for weeks.
They saw their most legendary and beloved player quit his job as team president so he can tweet. He later went on ESPN and further stoked the flames by naming Pelinka as the one he felt was “backstabbing” him within the organization, only further damaging the reputation of the team’s top executive.
There have been rumblings that Kurt Rambis of all people wields significant power in personnel decisions. He reportedly played a role in their failure to hire Tyronn Lue, partially out of fear it would give LeBron too much power, leading to them very clearly having to hire their third option as head coach in Frank Vogel and pretending it was what they wanted all along. It is widely reported that executives and agents around the NBA dislike Pelinka, who is now at the top of the front office, and now we learn many within the organization don’t trust him, either.
All of this is happening a little more than a month before they enter a critical free agent summer. As of this moment, they are not favored to land any of the top free agents that will be on the market, although Kyrie Irving is conspicuously absent from the latest batch of odds. The Lakers have tons of cap space and will surely find players happy to take that money, but right now it’s looking less likely that those players will be the superstar they covet as a running mate alongside James.
The question facing the Lakers is how can they fix this and can it be done in time to change the current perception around the league of the franchise as a tire fire. Pelinka has insisted he’s not worried about that, as he continues his transition into the meme of the dog saying “this is fine” while the room around him is ablaze. The thing he seems best at is making others wary of him and whether he’s telling them the truth, which is a problem in negotiating, and it is pretty widely accepted that he’s either in over his head in this role or, at the least, has made too many enemies to do it successfully.
When Johnson stepped down, many thought the Lakers had the opportunity to poach a top executive from another organization to become their team president, but instead chose to leave the president position created for Magic vacant and empower Pelinka to run the show on his own. Jeanie Buss and Linda Rambis seem to be his two biggest supporters in the NBA, which is all he needs to keep that position despite the evidence that the Lakers need a more experienced, stable hand to run things, even if that person has never been part of the Laker family.
The Lakers being the Buss family’s main business has become a problem. It’s their livelihood, and as such they meddle constantly, sweat the bottom line more than a franchise valued at north of $3 billion should, and put their friends in charge of things no matter their track record elsewhere.
When Vogel was hired, he preached how he wants to lean on analytics and emphasize a priority of where to get shots within his offensive system while building a culture in L.A. That sounds great, and I believe he meant it, but it won’t matter if the front office isn’t committed to the same plan, and based on last summer’s signings, it would be a radical shift. It won’t matter if ownership won’t spend on beefing up their scouting and analytics departments. And given the way his highest profile player has spoken of analytics this summer, it won’t matter if he can’t get the backing of his best player to get the rest of the locker room on board.
The Lakers are a fractured organization with deep-seated issues of distrust. Getting the ear of ownership seems to be the most important thing, and sometimes, that means circumventing those directly above you to get what you want. That leads to leaks, rumors of backstabbing, and Magic Johnson throwing Pelinka under the bus on live television. That distrust goes from the locker room, to the coaching staff (hello, Jason Kidd), to the front office and above.
Until ownership takes a step back and someone is empowered to build a real front office, with an open line of communication throughout the organization and a staff that is involved with and understands the plan, the same problems will pop up. Pelinka doesn’t seem to be the guy to do that given how the rest of the organization seems to feel about him, but someone should be given the real keys to the organization. Right now it seems like a driver’s ed car, with the front office and ownership each having a wheel and taking turns yanking it in opposite directions.
It’s possible that still won’t matter this summer. Maybe LeBron convinces Kyrie to team up again, or some other top free agent despite the problems with management, because the allure of L.A. is too good to pass up. Maybe David Griffin is a more willing trade participant with the Lakers than Dell Demps was and they can get an Anthony Davis deal done. It could happen, and for a brief period, the Lakers will look like a functional organization again.
Rest assured, though, as long as things run as they are, the whispers will remain, and sources will always be willing and ready to peel back the curtain on what’s really happening inside the Lakers.
