Lakers Majority Owner Mark Walter Discussion

He sat in on coaches meetings when Vogel was here. He had notes and was pushing things that hadn't worked in decades. He pushed for more Deandre Jordan minutes. He pushed for two big lineups of Jordan and Dwight.

He's been involved in pitches, FA meetings, in the war room during trade talks and he has a voice in these settings. He has not earned a seat or a voice to do anything but pickup dry cleaning and drop coffee off at the desks of the adults.

People want to wax poetically about him as a player, fine. B Scott was liked as a player too, doesn't mean they're above the firing squad when they're in over their ski. But unlike Scott, Rambis is a cockroach who won't go away.

 

I think my thing is that it has sounded like both Rambi have had TOO much voice in situations. Situations where you want others, who are the ones in charge and should be in charge, should express themselves without interference. However for some reason, it feels like reports have been that they get to say whatever they want in each situation that is present and then somehow get enough credit to be valid when it comes to the organization. I believe there have been some good decisions, but like any of the Buss Kids, or like was being said about Byron Scott and anyone else of the past, you can't just go "Oh, they are exempt because it's only been a few times that something bad has happened from their input." If you screw up enough, you should get the axe. Nothing should save you.

Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if there was another timeline where Kobe was a coach of the team somehow, somewhere, and if he did bad enough, after a while, we aren't all shouting for his head in that timeline, you know?

 

What's that new money going towards?



Still no second assistant GM either. The one that was going to be involved in draft, scouting and player development. Not getting that person in the building before this week was a fail. I get no one wants to work under Rob when there's a chance Rob can be canned and you're linked to him and likely out at that point, as well.



And can someone call security, Rambis is still at the facility.

 

Yeah this is not good. Especially several months after Walter took over. We had time to beef it up. 6 guys is quite underwhelming. Looks like a college Economics project lol

 

Mark Walter might be letting Pedinkus crash and burn, forcing Jeanie's hand to allow him to change leadership sooner rather then later. Who knows.

 

I'm a bona fide Dodger hater so that probably colors some of what I'm about to say, but I think some fans have drastically overestimated the effect Walter is going to have. I think he'll be a better owner than Jeanie, but this idea that he's going to now outspend everyone on non-basketball stuff is off base IMO.

You can't point to what his ownership group has done with the Dodgers. The Dodgers get to play by a different set of rules than everyone else because of their Spectrum Sportsnet deal and how that revenue is apportioned with the league due to the McCourt bankruptcy settlement. The Dodgers have a fundamentally different cash flow situation than any other team in the league. They re-invest that surplus revenue into the franchise operations which is why they can structure contracts differently than anyone else, pay front office talent better than everyone else, build out a farm system than everyone else, etc. It's not that Mark Walter has deeper pockets than other owners, I think he's like 8th or 9th in net worth among NBA owners (with net worth not being a perfect measure for ability to spend).

He'll be an improvement over Jeanie because I think the Lakers are going to become a more professional organization generally, but we don't have the same built-in advantage that the Dodgers do.

 

Time for you to go bud, we don't like Dodger haters here. See me in my office.

Retort to your post, Stan Kroenke owns almost all teams in each sports league, and he has won the title in every one. Rules do not matter in each league. The Lakers will own this thing again shortly and the only reason why Pelinka is still there is to placate Jeanie. Nothing more, nothing less. Once this clown and the other clowns are gone, this stuff will be equipped the correct way.

 

i agree, but i also think we'll spend a bit more on the non-basketball stuff than we have, too. and it will help.

i think the non-hire of the gm is a rob issue, as jsm said. but they couldn't really fire him upon arrival, imo.

i think rob sold them on a vision for this offseason, and they're going to see if he can execute it. if he can, he keeps his job. if not, they'll cut off any potentially damaging salvage efforts and fire him. i think he knows this, too. and i think potential incoming gms do, too. rob isn't going to let you hire his successor under his nose, either.

 

I probably have been TOO high on the money thing too, I just feel like when you have it, ie Balmer, you do all that you can to put the right people in the right place.....money be damned, you know?

NOW...the difference is the history of the Lakers, and I have to believe that he recognizes that. So he would want to do it better and have it be somewhat similar to how he is involved with the Dodgers. So, whether that's finding our own Bob Myers or whatever, I am not sure....but I just think he'll start plugging in the right people to keep the history of the team, BUT ALSO.....get us into the 21st Century and not living off of "But we're the Lakers and the Buss family owns us" as has seem to have been the case since 2011.

I think he has money to do it. I think he'll spend it, but maybe it won't be to the same degree as the Dodgers since, yeah...they are different caps and systems and what not....but I can't imagine you couldn't almost completely 1-for-1 your system between the two teams and have them BOTH be equally successful. It'll still take time, but hopefully not that much.

 

And that is the interesting part.

Rob wants to do good to keep his job, but he also has to do it right to keep it. But depending on how you read things, it almost seems like either A) he has something up his sleeve that he is keeping quiet. Or B) he sees the writing on the wall and is accepting that he's SOL. So he's just limping through till it happens. I figure A), but some stuff makes it seem like B) too

 

Counterpoint, Tom Dundon's Carolina Hurricanes just won the Stanley Cup while he's being universally mocked for how he's running the Blazers. And even with Kroenke, the Nuggets and Rams have each won championships recently but they've done it in dramatically different ways. So I don't agree that success on one sport guarantees or even makes likely success in another sport, and even if an owner is successful in multiple sports the approach often isn't the same. And that second part is what I'm getting at, I'm not just going to assume that Walter runs the Lakers the same way he runs the Dodgers. He can't, our previous owner didn't go through a divorce proceeding that artificially lowered the team's revenue share with the league.

 

That is a valid argument that not ALL teams can be equal, BUT....some people have the niche. We have to believe and hope Walter is the same where Dundon has failed. Maybe he can do it better than Kroenke. Who knows. But yeah, to think that they both can be ran the same or that the Dodgers success means the Lakers will succeed, isn't fair...but that's the hope we have to hang our hats on for now, until proven wrong.

As long as he doesn't have Yes Men around him as he builds up the Lakers office, like Rambis, or anything like that......they we can actually get a fresh, new start....which I think is all that we collectively want. And we just hope that it is enough and happens quickly and correctly enough to bring titles here soon.

We'll wait and see.

 

Yeah owners like to shake it up when they arrive. And any lack of success they quickly find a downfall guy and it's always who was already there.
I think it's a good thing for us. Win-win situation. Either he delivers or we find an improvement there

I think for all the antics, he has responded well to pressure.

He dealt well with Kawhi, having Green in his pocket and that got us a title.

Then he did well in the next year, got 2 6th man of the year and Gasol, the best center AD played with. We were going to make noise in the playoffs, we're up 2-1 against Phoenix when AD went down. That team was damn solid, the best we had so far, imo

Russ happened and everyone is to blame, including him.

Then he did a great trade for him when his value was negative, and we finished in the WCF, losing to the champions.

Finally he managed an absurd transition from a team with 2 old all stars with injury concerns for a Luka team. If it felt on his lap or not, he executed it. Kept it quiet and stroke it, deserves praise.

So here we are, it's another moment of truth and I'm remaining positive.
If we didn't trade this pick it can only mean we got something coming. Let's evaluate after, not now

 

I am not burned out by Pelinka, quite yet, like I was with Mitch by the time he got booted.

But like Mitch, Pelinka does deserve credit AND blame.

I just think Mitch and Pelinka, which makes sense for both of them, have had the same problem as I was stating earlier in that they just think us, as the Lakers, calling someone and saying "Hey we want you..." means they will jump to the moon with excitement and say yes, and THAT....is getting annoying.

This is what I want Walter to fix and why I want him to fix it soon. You need to keep a small amount of that, while also being realistic and up with the current times on things. The Lakers are still the Lakers, but this isn't the Kobe and Shaq times anymore. Malone and Payton type situations won't happen so easily. Hell, it feels like none of that has happened since LeBron dipped out of Miami. People want to go where they know they are good and can get paid. So, I do believe in Pelinka. I think he can make it work, but I also thought that of Mitch each off-season and in the end Kobe only got 5 rings instead of like 8...that he felt like he should have gotten.

So prove me wrong Pelinka. Get LeBron another one and Luka his first and we will be happy..........

 

Guys, just chill!
We have the Rambii and Jeanie still.
What could go wrong?