Can Magic Johnson Save The Los Angeles Lakers?

To put it simply, he was the Lakers’ GM for 17 years, the longest active streak in the National Basketball Association until today, and was also the architect of two championship teams in 2009 and 2010.

The team is already looking for a general manager to work under Johnson, Jeanie Buss said in the team’s statement. In addition to Kupchak being fired Jim Buss has been stripped of his duties as the Lakers Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations.

“The status quo wasn’t acceptable”, Jeanie Buss said. “We are determined to get back to competing to win National Basketball Association championships”.

The Lakers are in the midst of yet another dismal season, battling for last place in the Western Conference with a 19-39 record. Jerry Buss demanded and our fans rightly expect. We have a great coach in Luke Walton and good young players. Rob Pelinka, Bryant’s longtime agent, is widely expected to be named the Lakers’ next general manager.

Kupchak was originally an assistant general manager under Jerry West beginning in 1986, later succeeding West in the position. Rob Pelinka, a prominent sports agent, has reportedly been telling his clients that he plans on resigning from Landmark Sports Agency to become the general manager of the Lakers.

The appointment is part of a restructuring of the franchise’s front office, following a poor performance by the Lakers in recent seasons.

For years, Buss would go into the press from time to time and make comments that hinted at the dysfunctional relationship between her and her brother, Jim, but she allowed her brother to continue in his role, though outsiders even wondered if she truly had the legal authority to remove him. The Lakers are still feeling the effects of that deal, which will cost them their first-round pick this summer if it isn’t in the top three.

Remember, too, that Jeanie Buss didn’t speak up previous year when the Lakers basically gave away a season – and a season’s worth of growth for their young players – by allowing Bryant to enjoy a yearlong going away tour that did nothing to prepare the team for the future.

Jeanie Buss knows what it’s like to lose someone special as a result of mixing professional and personal life, having mutually ended her four-year engagement with Phil Jackson in December, halfway into his Knicks tenure.

“Jim loves the Lakers”. He also sold his ownership stake in 2010.

“I want a person who understands the (collective bargaining agreement) but who also understands our team and wants to be here”, Johnson said, checking off an imaginary list of Pelinka’s qualifications.

“Our untouchables are our young talent”, said Johnson, who will travel with the Lakers for Friday’s game in Oklahoma City.

Rob Pelinka, a prominent National Basketball Association player agent who represented Kobe Bryant during his career in Los Angeles, will be named Lakers general manager under Johnson, The Vertical first reported. He’d spent the final five years of his playing career in LA after Earvin “Magic” Johnson told former Lakers owner Dr.

Kupchak is a former Lakers centre who had been employed by the franchise in some capacity since August 1981. That group also bought Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC and WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.

There is certainly no guarantee that the Lakers make another deal before the deadline, but they are surveying all of their options.