Over the last three years, the sterling Laker franchise has been reduced to a lottery-bound wanderer. The start of their decline coincided with Dwight Howard’s free agency departure and the Jim Buss appointment as part-owner and vice president of basketball operations. The Howard departure left the Lakers in quite a hole, but Jim Buss was expected to continue the legacy of his father, the late Laker patriarch, Dr. Jerry Buss, and return the Lakers to their former glory. Jim has done nothing of the sort and now one of the greatest Lakers of all time, Magic Johnson, is sounding the alarm that something needs to change to save the franchise.
Magic shared some criticisms with the Los Angeles Times on Buss’ role within the organization:
“You’ve got to get somebody to help [Buss] out,” said Johnson, an unpaid Lakers vice president. “Just play your role. There’s nothing wrong with being a great owner.
There have already been rumblings about an expiration date for Jim, and his sister, Jeanie, is a capable heir apparent (she already runs the business side of the Lakers). The Lakers’ allure has diminished while another team up north has turned into the toast of the NBA these last two seasons.
This isn’t the first time Magic’s spoken out about the Lakers, either. He overtly rooted for them to lose last season after oddly saying they were exciting the month before. So, let’s not overreact to this comments. True, Magic is probably the greatest point guard of all-time and an incredibly successful businessman who has a minority stake in the Dodgers, but he’s also not infallible on the basketball front.
Some of the noise he — and others — is making about Jim Buss may simmer down this season due to Kobe’s farewell tour, but the fire will be reignited if Jim Buss can’t bring a star to Los Angeles this summer.
