Former Lakers Majority Owner Mark Walter Discussion

2nd quote goes a long way to explain the first quote. Just sayin'. You can be really vicious toward her to where the level of animosity seems completely out of whack. Oh right she put in for the covid loan and then took it back. The Mom and Pop shop lost a huge chunk of their income with the empty arena, compared to the Billionaires owning teams as vanity projects. Completely justifies all the hate you dump on her. New owner you like ... so F*** Jeanie and slander her on the way out. Never liked that part of your posts. Respectfully, same as you find issue with my over the top, in your opinion, positive outlook on many Lakers issues. Then again I'm not a Ring is the ONLY thing cat like you. The odds are just against it every single year.

 

I follow the Premier League and a different team so I'm well aware of what they did and yeah, as @pika1708 the accusations are that they created fake sponsorships to make their financial books look good (with soccer technically having 0 salary cap or spending limits) that's currently under this long term investigation.

But the resounding sentiment is that the Premier League is just going to give him a slap on the wrist as they bring in gigantic money for the league and the country. To the point where teams like Real Madrid cry over how much profit English teams make and they wanted create a new Euroleague.

Currently, looks like Mark Walter is running the show without interference from the UAE. Nonetheless, it looks like the NBA as whole seems to take a big liking the UAE money with the Emirates sponsorship, trying to get them to start up NBA europe, playing future preseason games in Abu Dhabi in Dolan's sphere, etc.

 

LT, you want to look at the world in a positive light and I have joked about it but I wouldn't ask you to change that way of thinking because I do think it's a healthier way to live. However, being someone who makes a living snuffing scum out, it's hard to switch in and out or accommodate those who are the same because they happen to run or own or operate my favorite team's business.

I was writing a much longer post but I decided to delete it because I do not see any point in going into too much detail. I do not like Jeanie Buss or Rob Pelinka or most of their circles. I think they are only there, exactly like Bronny James, because they were allowed to be there by much better talent. And I hate that. And it's made a mockery of a franchise that has had their drama queens, but those drama queens were Shaq, Kobe, Jerry West, Phil Jackson, the people who had the talent to justify their drama.

I am in the results business and if you are producing more issues than wins, then you should be called out and it's easy to call out the Jeanie Buss's because they are also high class trash.

And that's it. I do not live my life to be positive Nancy. I have gotten where I am and have surrounded myself with good people by being a vicious protector of those around me. And I was fortunate to be born with the stamina to be able to handle the heat all the time. And that's it. It isn't rocket science. If I smell a rat, I usually say something. Especially if it's towards something I love.

 

But the boohooing about Daddy wanted us to run the show rings hollow. If they were truly qualified, they’d have been put in that position. It’s basically an impossible job to groom family members for. It’s not like Jeannie has totally nailed her role either.

but I’m sure it feels like having their inheritance sold without their permission. They still have ownership stake, but no longer any say. I guess the true test of how awesome they are considered in the marketplace will be if they get job offers from other franchises. I don’t see any indication thats going to happen or is on anyone’s radar.

 

They're not allowed to work for another franchise. They're part owners of the Lakers.

 

They could sell their part and walk away.

 

And it is a bit hard to feel sorry for any of them, since each family member walked away with nearly a billion dollars each. That doesn't include pay they received from working for the Lakers. They all made out all right.

 

I'd heard somewhere before that while the Lakers prospect scouting operation was pretty good, we pretty much didn't have a league scouting department responsible for monitoring other players around the league for purposes of trades, waiver claims, eventual free agency, etc. So even if we were pretty good on the prospect scouting side, the scouting department generally needed an upgrade. Also, if Jesse and Joey were the dissenting votes against the sale to Walter in the first place (it was 4-2), it really doesn't make sense to keep them around.

 

Heard something interesting on a podcast and surprised it isn't mentioned before. Isn't Walters close to Magic?
Is Rob going to get shivved at the end of this family drama after all lol.

 

Yes. And wouldn’t be surprised if Magic has the knife out. Am surprised this seems “news” as Johnson has been an integral player in the initial Dodgers acquisition and always is around the team. That said Mark has had a relationship with Lakers and Jeanie for years and minor per cent ownership of the team. I would “guess” he has spoken at length with Jeanie about what exactly went down with the “alleged” backstabbing and what the real issues were.

 

Oh great, a good at his job Rob may be replaced by someone who quite possibly could win the award for “Worst GM the Lakers Ever Had.”
Walter BETTER be smarter than this.

 

Jeanie and Rob and all attached to them will be shivved regardless of association. It's basic new ownership operations. It's science.

 

This is the way

 

just going to reiterate that i'm fine with rob being shown the door, but not if it's because we're listening to magic. i'm also kind of wary of what's coming over the next 6-8 months, which are absolutely crucial here. like, if rob's a lame duck, how are we supposed to navigate this?

like, february shows up--do we keep our space or cash in expirings and picks? this is a very important decision, and it would be better if whomever we thought was going to steer the franchise for the next 5 years was in place at that point.

 

If you look at the Dodgers’ organizational setup, it’s clear they like to get as many smart minds in the room as possible. I’d be surprised if they’re relying solely on Magic Johnson—he definitely has a say, but how much influence he actually has? That’s anyone’s guess.

A few interesting things I picked up from Jovan: apparently, for the last couple of years, Jesse and Joey had a different draft board than Rob. So if anyone’s to blame for the quality of recent drafts, it’s probably Rob. Jesse and Joey’s work had nothing to do with that—they’ve actually been one of the best parts of the organization for a long time. Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded if they took over completely from Jeanie years ago—they know what they’re doing.

That said, I’m trusting Mark to have the freedom he needs to make this work. Rob’s been consulting with Zhadi (not sure about the spelling), and Friedman is the analytics guy, likely bringing in more “numbers” people. JJ already likes that stuff, so that should fit well with our head coach.

Rob? No clue. Personally, I’d love to see them poach scouts from other teams, bring in assistant coaches, shooting coaches—find talent wherever they can. They’ve got the money, so make it happen.

 

again, i just can't trust this as a shot on the way out the door. seems like when something good happens, rob didn't do it. when something bad happens, he did it.

joey and jesse are out now, so name names and see if anyone within the organization will corroborate off the record. like, the word was you wanted kobe bufkin in the jhs draft. did you? were you lobbying rob to take podziemski (or jaquez), and he came over the top of you? you can say that now! there have been lots of vague allegations but again the only thing that i've heard repeated was that bufkin (also out of the league until this week) was the target in the jhs year. or was that rob, too?

btw, side question: do gms actually make draft boards of their own? this doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

 

i'm going to be very frustrated if the new ownership team brings magic back into the organization in any capacity

 

My read on what Jovan said is that he’s seen different versions of the Lakers’ draft room over the years. Some years it was Jesse/Joey driving things, other years it was more Rob and his crew. And if that’s true (and I trust Jovan on this), then yeah — Rob ultimately had the final word because he’s the VP of Basketball Ops. If he whiffed on guys, that’s on him. Prospects are always hit-or-miss, but the person in charge gets the blame and the credit.

And look, Jesse and Joey weren’t perfect either — nobody hits 100% — but they were easily the best part of the Lakers’ front office for a long time. That’s not even debatable. They were aligned, they knew what they were doing, and they were good at it. I liked both of them, but business is business.

Something people aren’t really talking about: Jesse is 37 and Joey is 40. They voted against the sale for a reason. The older Buss kids are much older, less involved, and honestly some of them just weren’t good at their jobs (Jim). Those older siblings probably wanted to cash out. Jesse and Joey had a long-term vision, were actually good at their roles, and wanted to carry on their dad’s philosophy — but they got outvoted. Simple as that.

I’ve said this before, but years ago @ElginTheGreat and I talked about how we hoped Jesse and Joey would eventually take over, and I know others here felt the same. It just didn’t shake out that way. Jeanie’s going to be around, and honestly Rob probably will be too — at least for the next couple of seasons. There’s a reason he and JJ both got multi-year deals. Mark clearly knew those were happening before the sale got finalized, and I’m sure they were promised some kind of runway to execute their vision. We’ll see how that plays out.

At the end of the day, if Mark doesn’t perform, he’ll get the criticism he deserves — he did fire two really good scouts. But I think we’ll be fine. He’ll hire strong replacements, he’ll add talent, and he’s going to have every resource possible to build out the department.

 

so it's room and not board? i guess in my mind i just imagined that the gm/president only get involved after the scouts have put things in front of them. and yeah, the gm makes the pick, so they're always on the hook. i just struggle to understand how rob managed not to screw up all the other picks...just the jhs one. like, his one time to override and meddle was the one truly bad pick we've made in the whole time he's worked here? i don't know...just doesn't smell right to me.