Kobe Bryant puts his weight behind under fire Jim Buss – NBA News
A few days back, Los Angeles Lakers great Magic Johnson lashed out Jim Buss, the current boss and son of the franchise owner Dr. Jerry Buss, for making yet another pathetic coaching selection after Mike Brown. Although Mitch Kupchak,
the franchise general manager, clarified that the decision to hire D’Antoni over the legendary Phil Jackson was a mutual one between him, Jerry and Jim, Magic singled out the junior Buss, and showed his utter lack of trust in him.
His feelings pretty much voiced the sentiments of the Lakers fans.
Jim did not react after he was ripped live on national television, and the issue was never raised again until yesterday, when Kobe Bryant lent his support to the under fire executive;
“[Johnson’s] opinion is valued greater than most others because of what he’s done here with this franchise. I can only speak from my perspective in my dealings with Jim. He’s been phenomenal,” Bryant said. “He’s seemingly made
all the right choices. Going back in time, I’m sure he would have called me and consulted me on the Mike Brown hiring but that is what it is. Other than that, he’s been behind some pretty good moves, some pretty good trades for this organization.”
The hiring of Mike Brown was a very infamous choice, which many thought was done to get rid of Jackson’s legacy. It is an open secret than the Zen Master and Jim Buss didn’t see eye to eye and once the iconic coach decided to hang
up his boots, Jim did everything in his power to ensure that all of Jackson’s people left with him.
The person who got affected the most by this was Brian Shaw.
A long time assistant of Jackson and a former Laker himself, Shaw was a fan and player favourite to succeed P-Jax. But, Jim Buss and company hired Brown, emphasizing that the team needed a defensive mentality and a change of culture.
That turned out to be the wrong reason.
Now, after what Jackson later claimed to be slimy negotiation tactics, the Lakers have hired a coach is Mike D’Antoni, who has never taken a team past the first round of playoffs. The reason given this time is that D’Antoni has
a simpler and more effective offensive system than Jackson’s triangle offense.
And yes, Jackson was consulted to complete the formality only.
Kobe however still thinks that Jim is up for the job, and perhaps he is justified in a sense because the Dwight Howard and Steve Nash scalps were made under him. And we all know when Kobe is happy; the Lakers end up to be happy
more often than not.
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