Lakers part-owner and executive vice president Jim Buss may have to admit defeat to his younger sister now that the family soap opera that is Los Angeles’ front office has approached its finale.
The Lakers announced the hiring of Hall of Famer Magic Johnson on Thursday as an adviser to president Jeanie Buss in all areas of business and basketball, according to the team’s website.
“We are thrilled and honored to add Magic’s expertise and abilities, and I look forward to working alongside him,” Jeanie said.
The delight does not go much further down the family tree. Jim, who took over the Lakers organization with his sister after their father and former team owner, Jerry, died in 2013, has been feuding with Johnson since the Lakers great started questioning his decision-making, saying the front office needed “to get somebody to help him out.”
“Magic Johnson going nuts on me?” Jim Buss fired back in an extensive profile with USA Today in 2015. “It’s like, ‘Really, dude? My dad made you a billionaire almost. Really? Where are you coming from?’”
Johnson, 57, was critical of the Lakers’ hiring of coach Mike D’Antoni in 2012 over Phil Jackson — who was previously engaged to Jeanie before the two called it off last December — and frustrated by management’s lack of urgency in signing a high-profile player.
“I’m going to say it again: I love Jim Buss. He should just be the owner, like his dad was just the owner,” Johnson told the Los Angeles Times in December of 2015. “Let’s go back with facts, so I can back this up with facts: 27 wins a couple years ago [2013-14], 21 wins last year [2014-15]. Three summers now, we haven’t signed anybody. I am backing this up with facts. We haven’t signed any superstar. We’ve had cap space. We had cap space last summer. We’re going to have more this summer.”
With Johnson desperate for wins, the elder Buss may finally cave under the pressure he set for himself in 2014, when he promised to step down by the summer of 2017 if the Lakers were still not a championship team.
Jeanie, who last year said she fully anticipates her brother to fulfill his promise, may have pushed her brother to the brink earlier than expected by bringing his enemy — and her good friend — on board. Johnson aside, the 2017 Lakers have not yet seen the light, sitting in second-to-last place in the Western Conference with a 17-34 record under rookie head coach Luke Walton.
In his new role, Johnson is expected to work alongside the coaches, evaluate and mentor the players and assist the owners with personnel decisions.
“Everyone knows my love for the Lakers,” Johnson said Thursday. “Over the years, I have considered other management opportunities, however my devotion to the game and Los Angeles make the Lakers my first and only choice. I will do everything in my power to help return the Lakers to their rightful place among the elite teams of the NBA.”
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
