Lakers’ Owner Jim Buss Says The Departed Dwight Howard “Was Never Really a Laker”

The Lakers just can’t seem to let it go. Comcast SportsNet NBA analyst Rich Bucher, contributed a piece to The Hollywood Reporter yesterday detailing the often contentious relationship between the two siblings who co-run the Los Angeles Lakers’ $1 billion behemoth: Jeanie Buss and her brother, Jim Buss. In THR piece the elder Jim was pretty forthright about Dwight Howard‘s brief time in LA.

The Lakers are in stasis, caught between re-building, Kobe Bryant‘s mammoth pre-CBA contract which pays him $30 million this season alone, and a fan-base that has little patience, or experience, with substandard play. They’ll ride into battle this year with their top three players, Bryant, Steve Nash and Pau Gasol, all on the wrong side of 32, but who account for nearly $60 million towards the league’s fifth-highest payroll of $76 million.

About the only good news is they only have Nash’s $9.7 million on the books for 2014-15, and will likely make a run at LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony next summer — if, as they’re expected to do — those two stars terminate their contracts early.

The death of the Lakers’ elder patriarch Jerry Buss in February, has left the Lakers’ fate in the hands of his children, with all the baggage siblings generally bring to the table. One of them, the often-maligned Jim Buss, can’t seem to let Dwight Howard go.

From THR:

Jim insists he’s just following his father’s blueprint, but the Howard situation suggests he missed a page. Instead of Jim spending time with Howard, the team launched a widely derided media campaign that implored “Stay” on billboards. After Howard bolted, Jim turned on his former star, saying he wasn’t surprised or dismayed. “He was never really a Laker,” says Jim. “He was just passing through.”

Those close to Howard say the Lakers could have persuaded him to stay. Even Jeanie believes that if her father had not been sick, he would have sealed the deal like so many before it. “It’s disappointing that Dwight isn’t here,” she says. “I feel like we failed him.”

While Jim’s quote about D-12 in Bucher’s piece comes off as callous and bitter, Jeanie seems genuinely hurt that Howard left, but blamed her own organization for failing to make him comfortable enough to sign long-term. Unfortunately, Jim Buss handles the basketball side of the organization with Jeanie relegated to the business side with little to no say on the personnel she markets so effectively.

Jeanie and her fiancé, Phil Jackson, are woven into the fabric of Bucher’s piece as the superego to Jim Buss’ id. It appears Jim and the Zen Master are at odds since Jim was the primary reason Mike D’Antoni was brought in as coach while Jerry Buss sat in the hospital late last year.

Keep reading to find out how the delicate balance between the sibling Lakers co-managers is actually tilted away from Jeanie Buss

Jeanie runs the day-to-day business operations from the office her father used to sit in overlooking the Lakers’ practice court in El Segundo, and she’s the Lakers’ representative on the league’s board of governors. As Bucher notes, “Talk to an NBA executive about Jeanie, and he or she likely will rave about her business savvy and attention to detail.”

Jim Buss works from home as the Executive VP of Player Personnel, but “Ask someone in the NBA about Jim, and he or she probably will say they don’t really know him. But the media and fans see Jim as being in charge of the team — the only part of the Lakers organization that matters to them.”

That last part is important. While Jeanie seems to have inherited her father’s business acumen and grace with inter-personal dealings, Jim Buss seems to have inherited his slovenly sartorial choices, and — most importantly to Lakers fans — control of the team’s basketball operations with GM Mitch Kupchak. That last piece concerning the shared duties of the Lakers’ Buss siblings has Jim leaving Jeanie out in the cold on team decisions that most directly affect the fans and the product on the court.

“My brother ultimately makes the [basketball] decisions,” says Jeanie. “I defer and will continue to defer because that’s what my dad believed would be successful.” Deferring, though, clearly is different from agreeing, and while Jeanie is supportive of her brother, she barely hides her frustration at not being included in major team moves. “I would be more comfortable if I understood what the decision process was, and I’m not always involved in it,” she says. “To be held accountable by the league and not have a seat at the table when decisions are made is hard.”

You can see it’s a tough position for Jerry Buss’ eldest daughter. Jeanie’s viewed by the league as the head of the Lakers organization, but within that same organization her brother wields the real power of personnel because of some anachronistic belief from the departed Jerry that Jim would do better in that capacity. All signs from Bucher’s piece, word around the league, and the recent departure of Howard, say otherwise. It was Jim’s decision to display those billboards all around LA in an attempt to sell Howard on re-signing, but we all know how that went.

But what’s most important for the Lakers right now is moving on, something Jim Buss can’t seem to do until he’s raked Howard across the coals one more time. While some Lakers fans appreciate this antagonistic approach to Howard’s departure, most understand the tact of Jeanie is just another example that maybe she should have that seat at the table when basketball decisions are made. Maybe deferring to her older brother was what her father wanted, but it might not be the best course for the Lakers moving forward.

Whether Jeanie’s role ever changes, remains to be seen, but the NBA’s penultimate organization better figure out their direction soon. Kobe turns 35 later this month, and he’s recuperating from the most serious injury of his career. Even with German elixirs and a tenacious unwillingness to miss time this coming season, there’s no telling how effective Bryant will be this year, or whether the Lakers’ split decision-making process can make a splash next season to re-tool. One things looking pretty clear, though: Dwight’s decision to sign for $30 million less to play in Houston doesn’t look so bad right now.

[THR]

What do you think about the Lakers’ dual managerial style, and Jim Buss’ comments about Dwight?

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