Everyone has an opinion. Whether it’s fans in the stands or keyboard warriors on social media, it seems like everyone has advice on how to run the team. And when you’re at the helm of one of the most successful teams, you ought to face it. Jeanie Buss was no exception. For instance, take JJ Redick’s hiring. It sparked a wave of questions and criticism from the NBA community. And it’s not just that. When a player underperforms, fans immediately turn their attention to the Lakers President, offering their solutions. If things aren’t going successfully, they share their fixes. But if you’re one of them, then you might want to think twice because Jeanie Buss isn’t a fan of that.
Buss made it clear on Games with Names that she doesn’t like fans constantly telling her what to do. “I think the part that kind of makes me crazy is when fans tell me what the coach needs to do, what players to trade for,” she said. Buss believes that criticizing decisions is fine, but offering unsolicited solutions kind of crosses a line.
“It’s kind of like, wait, why are you telling me this? Because, I mean, you could not like the coach or you can not like a move that was made, but like, by you telling me how to correct it, you’re insulting the people that work for me. I’m going to be kind of defensive about that,” Jeanie Buss further emphasized. She feels this shows clear disrespect for the professionals who work with her behind the scenes. And Jeanie is someone who becomes protective of her team.
It’s the passion for the game that sometimes makes people forget the boundaries. But Jeanie Buss put her view out there in public, possibly because she wanted the fans to be in check. In addition, the president also revealed some unknown details about the Anthony Davis–Luka Doncic trade.
Jeanie Buss opens up about what influenced the Anthony Davis trade
The most shocking blockbuster trade of the season has to be Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic’s trade, no one saw that coming. In fact, the wounds are still fresh. And Jeanie just admitted that it was her father, Jerry Buss’ ideology, that influenced her decision.
Jerry Buss’ principle of fairness in business dealings. “It’s about, if a deal isn’t good for both sides, then it’s not a good deal,” Jeanie shared. “A one-sided deal is eventually going to either fall apart or come back and haunt you. It’s just not the way to do business. My dad was a very fair man and didn’t take advantage of people, and that’s what I carry in that tradition.”
So like her father, Jeanie believes that for a deal to be truly good, it must benefit both parties involved. Otherwise, it fails over time or causes problems in the future. And that isn’t just a business strategy for them, it’s about personal ethics. It’s something that happened in AD’s case. When the host spoke about the trade and how great it was for the Lakers, Jeanie immediately responded, “Look what we had to give up, though. I mean, Anthony Davis—we won a championship. Do you know how hard that was?”
Sep 28, 2021; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss attends media day at the UCLA Health and Training Center in El Segundo, Calif. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
She further confessed that trading Davis was not even on the cards. “We were not looking to trade Anthony Davis.” But things took a sharp turn when the Mavericks made their demand for the big man. “Dallas contacted us, and he’d been making it clear that he wasn’t happy, that he was having to play the five. He wanted to play the four, so it sounded like he was unhappy,” she said. And so, Jeanie followed in her father’s footsteps. “I mean, it was a deal that both sides wanted to make,” she added.
That definitely worked out for the Purple and Gold. It’s a decision that Laker fans welcomed with open arms. Doncic has been a game-changer for the squad, and his chemistry with LeBron James clicked pretty quickly. Now, if the team manages to secure the championship this time, there’s a good chance everything will fall into place, and fans’ opinions will surely settle down.
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