The Los Angeles Lakers are going through a transitional period (read: they’re terrible), and Jeanie Buss says she is as impatient with the painful rebuild as any Laker fan.
Jeanie oversees the Lakers’ business affairs, leaving the basketball side of the operation to her brother Jim and general manager Mitch Kupchak.
Jim Buss promised to step down if the Lakers aren’t contending for NBA titles in a few years, and his sister says changes have to occur if the franchise isn’t back in its rightful place “soon”.
Per the LA Daily News:
“I’ve been assured by our basketball operations that the team will be back in contention soon. If we are not meeting those goals, then changes have to occur,” Buss said in a recent interview in her office at the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo. “I have no reason not to believe them when they tell me that’s what they can deliver. I don’t see what would be holding them back.”
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak recently reported he will prioritize the team’s financial flexibility and youth this summer over signing veteran free agents, a strategy that might compromise Kobe Bryant’s quest to win his sixth NBA championship in the 2015-16 campaign in what could mark his 20th and last NBA season. Lakers executive vice president of player personnel Jim Buss, who is Jeanie’s brother, has promised the Lakers would reach the Western Conference Finals within three years.
And if not? […] “Then we owe it to our shareholders, fans and partners that we have to move in a different direction to get this team back into contention,” Jeanie Buss said. “We made a commitment that we would operate the team the way Dr. Buss ran it.” […] “I can understand where Phil (Jackson) would be a disruption,” Jeanie Buss said. “I asked my brother if Phil could have any role in the organization. He and Mitch made it clear they didn’t need Phil, nor did they need anybody else. They felt they have everything covered and didn’t need another voice in their vision and plan for this team.”
