So who is really in charge these days for the Los Angeles Lakers?
While Jeanie Buss IS the Owner and President of the Los Angeles Lakers, she may not be the one running things at the moment.
According to Dan Feldman of NBC Sports, citing ESPN’s Amin Elhassan, folks around the NBA think Jeanie’s best friend Linda Rambis is the ‘shadow owner’ of the Lakers.
Elhassan saying,
“Some agents and GMs around the league have dubbed her the shadow owner of the Lakers, that everything goes to through Linda Rambis, and if you want to convince Jeanie of something, you’ve got to get Linda first.”
Rambis and Buss have been friends for 4+ decades, and Rambis herself serves as Executive Director of Special Projects for the Lakers.
Apparently, those special projects include sitting in on coaching interviews as she did when the Lakers interviewed Monty Williams.
Her husband Kurt Rambis, who is Senior Basketball Advisor, helped interview Williams also and reports are the Lakers want to make Rambis associate head coach.
Rambis as coach in any capacity…bad idea.
Needless to say, the Lakers are a mess at the moment.
Magic Johnson quit to go tweet more, Luke Walton was fired, Rob Pelinka might be in over his head, and the Lakers are unsure of who their next coach will be.
Not to mention a massive free agency period is coming this offseason that will have the likes of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, etc. available.
Oh, and some guy named LeBron is still on the roster.
LeBron James who enters year two of his current 4-year deal next season, couldn’t have imagined things would go this poorly.
How the Lakers function around him will be a major question this offseason.
The Lakers have a lot to figure out and it’s starts with defining who’s really in charge in Tinsel Town.
Based on what NBA folks think, it’s not Jeanie Buss.
