NBA Los Angeles Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers Turning Their Backs On Former All-Time Greats

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By @IanClarkMcEwan

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The Los Angeles Lakers were once recognized as a franchise that took care of their own. Under the guidance of Dr. Jerry Buss, the Lakers not only won championships, they won the respect of their players, employees and associates for how they did business. Role players like Derek Fisher to stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, among others, were able to negotiate multiple contracts to stay Lakers. Multiple former Lakers cited Dr. Buss as a father figure at his memorial following his death. This was a unique perk of being a Laker — you were a Laker for life.

While the Collective Bargaining Agreement of today often allows incumbent teams to offer their players more money than other teams can offer on the open market, the Lakers offered more than money. This way of doing business for the franchise appears to be waning.

The first, most recent, and perhaps most public example of this is the appalling negotiating that took place between the Lakers and Phil Jackson in November 2012. Jackson claims he was lied to by the team, having reached a verbal agreement he had a weekend to decide if he wanted the job of head coach or not, only to be awoken at 3 A.M. on a Sunday to be told the job had gone to Pringles guy look-alike Mike D’Antoni. Jackson is now currently trying to repair his first team, the New York Knicks.

There’s the treatment of one-day Hall-of-Famer Pau Gasol. Constantly swirled in trade rumors, and twice removed from being the primary option in the low post to make way for the offensively inferior likes of Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard, Gasol is now playing with the Chicago Bulls, despite his relationship with Kobe Bryant, his affection for the city of Los Angeles, and the Lakers’ offer to include a no-trade clause in contract negotiations this summer, when Pau was a free agent. He clearly was not the reason D’Antoni was hired; his needs and talents were made secondary to the incessant needs and limited talents of two inferior players, and through it all, he handled his duties as the professional and incredible basketball player he is.

There are other Laker greats around the league doing tremendous work for rival franchises. Pat Riley is with the Miami Heat, having orchestrated three championships for the franchise. Jerry West is currently a consultant for the NBA‘s most exciting up-and-coming contender, the Golden State Warriors; he recently signed a two-year extension. Magic Johnson sold his stake in the Lakers to liquidate enough resources to become a part owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, but all outward appearances lead one to believe he is as much of an outsider on Laker decisions as the fan in section 332.

The Lakers are unique from most of the league in that their list of all-time greats reads like it could have been sampled from the NBA as a whole. A few of their greats do retain some influence on the franchise. For example, James Worthy has shown up to a few training camp sessions to help big men with their low-post footwork. Byron Scott, though not the most accomplished coach the Lakers could have pursued, certainly benefited from his history with the franchise, as well as being a mentor to Bryant when he was a rookie. However, if the Lakers hope to achieve greatness in their future, they may want to look to their past more often. These former players who have become coaches and executives are accomplished, and many continue to succeed in various roles around the league. If the Lakers can’t figure out how to compete in today’s NBA, the list of all-time greats will be a lot shorter in the years to come.

Ian McEwan is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @IanClarkMcEwan,“Like”him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google. He is not the British author.

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