The Lakers Reality Show

Cellar-Door

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This has long been Magic's M.O. he takes on jobs, then when he realizes that they involve heavy time commitments and work beyond the stuff he enjoys (gladhanding, schmoozing, etc.) he quits.
 

benhogan

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If the Lakers win, Ervin sticks around, takes all the credit and enjoys the party.

If the Lakers lose, Ervin sneaks out the backdoor while leaving a post-it note on Jeannie & Rob's desks.

Magic....

The more crummy PR to come out of Laker land the better odds AD is a Celtic.
 

nighthob

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The more crummy PR to come out of Laker land the better odds AD is a Celtic.
Unless Boston can find a way to get that Space Jam reboot canceled, AD is going to be a Laker either next year or the year after.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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GMs and agents think the Lakers need to cut ties with Pelinka, too:
When asked how Lakers controlling owner Jeanie Buss can turn her franchise around, agents and general managers were succinct with their answers.

“I just don’t see how they do anything going forward with Rob in place,” one agent said. “No one trusts him.”
So how does one do business with Pelinka?

“Obviously you can’t. I can’t,” an agent said. “I haven’t even done any business with him, because either I don’t have something that he wants or he just won’t respond to stuff.”
Another Eastern Conference GM said an easy parallel is that Pelinka used to be Rich Paul, the agent and friend of LeBron James. Paul’s Klutch Sports agency represents several high-profile players, including Anthony Davis.


“This is how I would describe Rob Pelinka to Jeanie,” the general manager said. “He was Rich Paul when Rob had Kobe. That’s the only way to explain it to her so she can get it a little bit better.”
https://www.latimes.com/sports/lakers/la-sp-lakers-nba-reaction-20190410-story.html
 

TripleOT

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Jeannie Buss and Laker ownership are doing a tremendous job making money as their team misses the playoffs, year after year. This year the team has the 27th highest payroll, at $107m. Last year they were 21st, at $103m, and the previous season they were 19th, at $94m. None of those pesky luxtax payments to cut into owner profit.

Each of the six Buss children own 11% of the team, and it was reported in 2017 that each earned $10m a year from the Lakers. Unlike the other NBA owner in LA (ha), they don't have unlimited outside billions, with their net worth is mostly from the team. Low payroll means more profit as their middling team sells out the Staples Center every game, and the local TV money pours in.

If the Buss family wants to really get the right GM to keep their pocketbooks fuller, they should hire Chris Wallace.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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Jeannie Buss and Laker ownership are doing a tremendous job making money as their team misses the playoffs, year after year. This year the team has the 27th highest payroll, at $107m. Last year they were 21st, at $103m, and the previous season they were 19th, at $94m. None of those pesky luxtax payments to cut into owner profit.

Each of the six Buss children own 11% of the team, and it was reported in 2017 that each earned $10m a year from the Lakers. Unlike the other NBA owner in LA (ha), they don't have unlimited outside billions, with their net worth is mostly from the team. Low payroll means more profit as their middling team sells out the Staples Center every game, and the local TV money pours in.

If the Buss family wants to really get the right GM to keep their pocketbooks fuller, they should hire Chris Wallace.
What could they get for the franchise in a sale, if the Clippers were worth $2 billion? Maybe $2.75 to $3 billion? More? Forbes has them at $3.7 billion but I’m not sure how many people out there will be able to bid for a number that high.

Anyways, I get the cache of owning the Lakers, but wouldn’t 11% of that mountain of cash be better than $10 million per year?
 

BigSoxFan

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What could they get for the franchise in a sale, if the Clippers were worth $2 billion? Maybe $2.75 to $3 billion? More? Forbes has them at $3.7 billion but I’m not sure how many people out there will be able to bid for a number that high.

Anyways, I get the cache of owning the Lakers, but wouldn’t 11% of that mountain of cash be better than $10 million per year?
I think the Lakers would easily clear $3B in a sale. People will pay a big premium for that market and especially with LeBron in the fold. At some point you figure the Busses will cash out.
 

nighthob

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What could they get for the franchise in a sale, if the Clippers were worth $2 billion? Maybe $2.75 to $3 billion? More? Forbes has them at $3.7 billion but I’m not sure how many people out there will be able to bid for a number that high.

Anyways, I get the cache of owning the Lakers, but wouldn’t 11% of that mountain of cash be better than $10 million per year?
If I recall correctly the trust that Dr. Jerry set up makes selling the team somewhat complicated.
 

TripleOT

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I think the Lakers would easily clear $3B in a sale. People will pay a big premium for that market and especially with LeBron in the fold. At some point you figure the Busses will cash out.
Jerry Buss set aside estate taxes so the team could stay in the Buss family. The family’s interest is probably worth $2 billion, at 66% of ownership, but they’d have to cash out to get at it. They’d probably be looking at $250 m each after taxes. I’d rather have a $10-20m a year cash matchine and still own an appreciating asset.

I’m sure if a family member wanted to move their 11 percent for $250-330m, there would be takers.
 

cheech13

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What could they get for the franchise in a sale, if the Clippers were worth $2 billion? Maybe $2.75 to $3 billion? More? Forbes has them at $3.7 billion but I’m not sure how many people out there will be able to bid for a number that high.

Anyways, I get the cache of owning the Lakers, but wouldn’t 11% of that mountain of cash be better than $10 million per year?
If Forbes has them at $3.7B then they could probably get $4-5B in a sale. Every team that sells goes at a premium over the Forbes valuation since franchises never come available and the buyer pool is willing to pay a premium over whatever the cash flow would suggest the team is worth. The only potential obstacle would be finding a buyer that has the necessary capital to purchase them at that type of number.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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If Forbes has them at $3.7B then they could probably get $4-5B in a sale. Every team that sells goes at a premium over the Forbes valuation since franchises never come available and the buyer pool is willing to pay a premium over whatever the cash flow would suggest the team is worth. The only potential obstacle would be finding a buyer that has the necessary capital to purchase them at that type of number.
I suspect that were the Lakers to be made available, there would be no shortage of buyers. Hollywood is an obvious source of demand - if you count in tech money as well as overseas buyers, the potential market is probably huge. And its obviously not limited to individuals - buyers groups as well as corporate entities might have interest as well.

If there is one lesson to be learned about established properties/brands in big markets, its that they are layup investments over time. The Lakers franchise is essentially a prime example of such an asset.
 

bakahump

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Lets not forget that Buss died in '13

So 5ish years (I am assuming they have been under the cap all 5 years or close enough not to matter) x 10 Million ish per

Its not like they are Broke and getting 200 Million would change their lives. They should easily have 25-40 Million in a bank even after living like a rap star for the past 5 Years.
(Not even accounting for any other wealth they inherited or produced on their own).

So yea they are not Steve Ballmer but they are doing just fine. Why Sell.
 

TripleOT

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The point I was trying to make is its better financially for the Buss kids to roll out a middling team with a low payroll rather than a luxtax team. We shall see in the next few seasons whether they're willing to spend like a top NBA team.
 

Cellar-Door

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Monty Williams would be a decent hire.

Behind a paywall so I won't link, but Shams has a Lakers article on the Athletic about Magic and drops the tidbit that Lonzo's business guy (the one he's now suing) and father set up surgery for him with a doctor in Ohio in February and nobody told the Lakers, they found out and between Magic, Pelinka and Lonzo's agent managed to get him back to LA before the surgery (in part by letting him know it would let them void his contract).

Edit- post above came in as I was typing
 

cheech13

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The phrasing of the following paragraph from the espn.com article makes me think that they had this one in the queue for a while.

"Walton's job security was something many executives, coaches and agents speculated about since the start of the season, not only because the Lakers had the makings of a flawed roster, but also because Walton wasn't hired by the existing regime of Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka. Walton was hired in 2016 by then-executive vice president Jim Buss and then-general manager Mitch Kupchak. "
 

BigSoxFan

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Monty Williams would be a decent hire.

Behind a paywall so I won't link, but Shams has a Lakers article on the Athletic about Magic and drops the tidbit that Lonzo's business guy (the one he's now suing) and father set up surgery for him with a doctor in Ohio in February and nobody told the Lakers, they found out and between Magic, Pelinka and Lonzo's agent managed to get him back to LA before the surgery (in part by letting him know it would let them void his contract).

Edit- post above came in as I was typing
Wouldn’t having his contract voided potentially be good for Lonzo given all the cap space this year?
 

Cellar-Door

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Wouldn’t having his contract voided potentially be good for Lonzo given all the cap space this year?
maybe? Hard to say since he'd be coming off ankle surgery. Also, voidable is the key, so they could wait, see if his ankle was fucked, then cut him loose, in which case he'd be screwed because he'd lose all the injury guaranteed money and how big a contract would he get in camp with a chronic ankle injury bad enough that the Lakers cut him loose
 

InstaFace

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Monty Williams would be a decent hire.

Behind a paywall so I won't link, but Shams has a Lakers article on the Athletic about Magic and drops the tidbit that Lonzo's business guy (the one he's now suing) and father set up surgery for him with a doctor in Ohio in February and nobody told the Lakers, they found out and between Magic, Pelinka and Lonzo's agent managed to get him back to LA before the surgery (in part by letting him know it would let them void his contract).

Edit- post above came in as I was typing
Just hook this stuff straight into my laker hating veins.
 

Sprowl

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The LA Times enters a runner in the Bad Feelings sweepstakes:



Luke Walton, you lucky dog.

In finally getting dumped Friday by the Lakers, their former head coach made his escape like a man staggering up the embankment from a ditch occupied by the twisted metal of steaming wreckage.

Walton gets to walk away from a basketball operation being run by the “backstabbing and whispering” of the widely unpopular and generally unsuccessful Rob Pelinka.

Walton gets to depart a basketball team being run, occasionally, when he feels like it, by distracted Hollywood mogul LeBron James.

Walton gets to separate himself from a franchise being run by a formerly beloved owner who has presided over the sort of off-court drama that has turned the Lakers into the New York Knicks. Nobody, but nobody, has been more disillusioning in this mess than Jeanie Buss.

“I want to thank Jeanie Buss and the Buss family for giving me the opportunity to coach the Lakers,’’ Walton said in a statement. “This franchise and the city will always be special to me and my family.’’

Don’t be surprised if there was a third quote omitted from the press release, something along the lines of, “Yippee!’’
...
All joking aside, the truth is a sad one. A Lakers coach gets pushed out and he’s the lucky one.
 

TripleOT

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Kobe and the Buss family's pathological need to accommodate him in his last few seasons with his last salary demand (a two year $48 million extension to a 35 yer old coming off a devastating achilles injury) sent this team into a six year freefall. Besides the big salary gumming up the books, top FAs didn't want to play with Kobe. Just as Red not moving on from Bird and McHale sent the Celtics into six years of NBA purgatory the Lakers not moving on from Kobe sunk the Lakers. (BTW, the Lakers actually had a better record the last two years of the Kobe era when he didn't play). The desperate Celtics reached out to Rick Pitino to right their ship. The Lakers went with Magic, and neither guy had a clue how to put together an NBA roster.

I wonder if the Lakers are making the same mistake with a 35 year old (in the 2019-2020 season) LeBron. Will another superstar want to play with him? I don't think many would have a problem gelling with LBJ on the court, but there's been talk about players being wary about being around the off court circus that follows LeBron around. LeBron and Rich Paul unsuccessfully trading half the Laker team for AD probably wasn't a good look to a lot of younger NBA players. When a LBJ approved coach is named, will it consign the Lakers to just surrounding James with older three point shooters, instead of another star, and if so, can a 35 year old Lebron carry that team to a deep run in the playoffs?

Here's a great article from Henry Abbott from 2014 about the fatal Kobe accommodation that started the Lakers on their way to NBA hell.

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/11717596/is-kobe-bryant-reason-los-angeles-lakers-downfall
 
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Sam Ray Not

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Myers, in particular, seems to be a real possibility.
Because Bill Simmons pulled that out of his ass while also erroneously claiming that Myers is from LA?

1. Myers is from the Bay Area and grew up a Warriors fan.

2. Myers and Steve Kerr are really, really close friends. Kerr, having dealt with his own family tragedy, helped Myers through the recent death of his brother in law; and Myers helped Kerr through his hellacious recovery his botched back surgery.

This was the hardest year of my life,” Kerr said a year ago at his 2015-16 Coach of the Year press conference. “Bob went from being my general manager, the guy I worked with, to the guy I leaned on every day. When I was really struggling with my pain … Bob called me every single day and offered his support. The friendship that Bob has given me, and the support goes way beyond basketball and it will last a lifetime.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mercurynews.com/2017/05/07/warriors-bob-myers-wants-steve-kerr-above-all-to-get-his-life-back/amp/


But I guess if someone said Myers is leaving Kerr and the Warriors to go work for a totally dysfunctional sh*tshow of a franchise, it must be true...
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Jerry Buss set aside estate taxes so the team could stay in the Buss family. The family’s interest is probably worth $2 billion, at 66% of ownership, but they’d have to cash out to get at it. They’d probably be looking at $250 m each after taxes. I’d rather have a $10-20m a year cash matchine and still own an appreciating asset.

I’m sure if a family member wanted to move their 11 percent for $250-330m, there would be takers.
Little late on this but because you seem interested, it appears that terms of Trust prohibit any of the Buss kids from selling their individual shares. It has to be all (4 out of 6 required to approve) or nothing.

http://www.frazierlawhouston.com/blog/2013/02/jerry-buss-visionary-estate-plan.shtml

Also, ANG (which owns 27%) has right of first offer so that would presumably act as a drag on the market price.
 

TripleOT

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Little late on this but because you seem interested, it appears that terms of Trust prohibit any of the Buss kids from selling their individual shares. It has to be all (4 out of 6 required to approve) or nothing.

http://www.frazierlawhouston.com/blog/2013/02/jerry-buss-visionary-estate-plan.shtml

Also, ANG (which owns 27%) has right of first offer so that would presumably act as a drag on the market price.
All the more reason for them to not pay luxtax and generate fatter incomes each season. The Buss kids are the low income tenants at the Staples Center, with the Clippers owner Steve Ballmer's $46 billion net worth probably ten times that of the Buss kids combined. Ballmer is the wealthiest owner of any US team in any sport, by at least double, and is the 21st richest person in the world. The Clippers are ascending, while the Lakers are stuck in lottoland.
 

cheech13

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Dave McMenamin‏Verified account @mcten 36m36 minutes ago
New story: Jason Kidd interviewed with Rob Pelinka and Kurt Rambis for the Lakers' head coaching vacancy on Monday, league sources told ESPN

Not only are they interviewing Kidd, but it looks Kurt Rambis has ascended to no. 2 decision maker in that organization. Not exactly going out on a limb here, but I doubt this team is going to fix their problems this summer.

EDITED for clarity
 
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johnmd20

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Not only are they interviewing Kidd, but it looks Kurt Rambis has ascended to no. 2 decision maker in that organization. Not exactly going out on a limb here, but I doubt this team is not going to fix their problems this summer.
Do you have an extra "not" in there?