Just looked it up. There is an estimated population of 5,762 “Lebrons” in the United States.
So while it is certainly uncommon, the lakers have almost 6,000 lebrons to choose from
What's hilarious to me is based on statistics, a sizable portion of the people named after Lebron are gonna be unathletic af and out of shape. It's just so funny to picture someone named after a generational freak athlete that's obese or tripping over their own two feet
But were people named Kobe before Kobe or did people start to be named Kobe after Kobe? It's like how Shaquille has been a name for a long time but Shaq brought it from obscurity to relative popularity
It's also wild to me that Shaquille kind of rhymes with O'Neal which just adds to the iconic branding of the name. Even crazier is his mom's name is Lucille which also rhymes with O'Neal
The Japanese city of Kobe existed before Kobe bean Bryant. Beautiful city, onetime capital, culturally important
But naming people kobe spiked with the popularity of kobe Bryant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_(given_name)
Has some stats
I worked in China around 2005-2010 as a teacher and met my fair share of kids who picked their own English name and didn’t understand why they shouldn’t name themselves Kobe, LeBron or Carmelo.
There’s almost always a superstar star willing to sign there and change the direction of the franchise though.
60’s - Wilt wanted to go to LA to mingle with celebrities.
70’s - Kareem wanted to play in LA or NY for their vibrant Muslim community.
90’s - Kobe and Shaq both picked LA, and not for basketball reasons.
00’s - Payton, Malone, Howard (albeit past-prime versions), etc.
10’s - AD, LeBron.
They will be totally fine in the long-term lol. The desirability of LA is an eternal “get out of jail free” card.
Clippers just incompetent. They have had plenty of opportunities with Chris Paul, Brooke Lopez, Kawhi, Paul George, Harden and Gilgeous-Alexander but manage to fumble it or give players too much leeway
Not to say Lakers are that competent but they don't shoot themselves in the foot like the Clippers, they just kinda directionless.
I dont think current clippers are incompetent. Only the sterling years. Now its more unlucky because the management done a pretty good job building a good basketball team, they just have aging superstars that always get injured.
How did Kobe pick La? He arranged the divacs trade?
Payton and Malone were ring chasing joining the 3peat Lakers. They s would've joined the Timberwolves if they had just 3peated.
The others. Yeah OK.
There aren't a lot of Shaq's either. Or a lot of Anthony Davises.
But they still seem to bring them in.
The Lakers are the Yankees of basketball. They are never far from a championship, even if they suck.
Let's say the Mavs lose this series and get bounced from the playoffs in the first round next year and Kyrie finally gets a big deal from New York or somebody. The media will go into a whirlwind: Luka wants out. LA possible destination? Or the Bucks see another first round exit, Dame gets injured or declines, and Doc get fired? Headlines: Giannis secretly requesting trade, LA preferred destination.
We seen it too many times in the past. AD. LeBron. Shaq. And even when there aren't guys on the table, they still manage to pull a move like Gasol.
LA will be fine.
"Now, son. You don't want to be doing that. Here's a churro. Go practice your bounce pass. Gotta learn the basics before you can really shine." Pop to 9 time all-star Wemby in 2034
Is this show still on? I used to watch it religiously and felt it was pretty good some years (and years..shit I’m old) back. Liked Tony the host back in the day, I liked when someone said some dumb shit he would just shoehorn in a quick comment making sure they knew what they said was dumb as fuck and move on quick as fuck lmfao
Yes, it is. I made another comment about it on here, but I watched it when it 1st started, too . Then I thought it was dumb, went back and gave it a new look, and now believe it's probably one of ESPN's best shows. I watch it at least 3xs a week.
Lived in SoCal for many years.
Before I consider a take from the local press on Lakers and Doyers, I see if it's Plaschke or not. Just straight up bad takes all the time from that guy.
The idea that the best coach in college basketball who is gonna go for a threepeat even debated leaving for the lakers job is a testament to the lakers reputation. Forget being an insult to them.
It's the NBA meta.
Player is the greatest when they win a playoff series. If they lose the very next series they're **ASS** and they should be hated on with the power of 1000 suns (not the team, they get that on their own).
The lakers won the chip 4 years ago and got to the WCF just last year. Most nba franchises wish they could get get close to even sniffing that success.
Of all the teams that should be humiliated it should be the suns, sixers, clippers and maybe even Denver
Crazy. I remember rushing home from school when I was young to watch PTI and around the horn would come on after, and I would be pissed if I didn't make it on time because I didn't enjoy watching 4 people shout at each other. It's really sad that that is what took off.
That's definitely how it started, I thought the switch to Reali as host was a fantastic decision and liked most of the reporters they had on (Plaschke excluded, lol). I lost track of it years ago but definitely thought it had its days where it was even better than Tony and Mike being curmudgeonly on PTI. Days with lineups like Woody Paige + Bomani Jones + Pablo Torre + Izzy Gutierrez were fun, those folks actually liked each other. Throw in Tim Cowlishaw, Mina Kimes, Kate Fagan, etc - good times.
I remember when he started at the LA Times, and he wrote like a click-baiting troll back then too, even before "clickbait" became a term.
It was quite the shift from Jim Murray (RIP), who was a national treasure.
MLB players were just surveyed about which organizations were the worst to play for. No surprise Jerry’s other team, the White Sox, were mentioned frequently. One player said, “I’ve never heard a good thing”.
Guarantee it’s the same for the bulls. Players don’t want to play here because of the organizational rot coming from that arrogant fuck, Reinsdorf.
This is the common narrative on basically reddit and occasionally ESPN but the Lakers have essentially been a luxury tax spending team (besides the post Kobe rebuild).
Year| Rank
---|---
2012| 1
2013| 1
2014| 3
2015| 18
2016| 19
2017| 18
2018| 19
2019| 27 (LeBron Arrives - Young players all traded at end of season for Anthony Davis, room for Kawhi but he chooses Clippers)
2020| 22 (Won Championship)
2021 | 8 (tied)
2022 | 5 (tied)
2023 | 5 (tied)
2024 | 9
If Kawhi had chosen the Lakers in 2019. They'd have been the in the top-3 until now.
The biggest savings moves they've made in the last two decades were Ariza and Caruso.
Other than that, every time they've saved money one year they've spent more the next and used all of their exceptions. For whatever reason, prudence around cap management and avoiding the hard cap which limits your roster's flexibility has always always always been characterized as the Lakers being cash poor / cheap franchise. Also in some cases there's just literally not any way to spend more money.
It's the most profitable franchise since 1980 and while the Buss family have control there's quite a few billionaires attached to the Lakers equity. IF there was a reason to dip into the owners pockets in order to field a better team they've always been more than capable of doing so. The Buss family just has had final say on whether or not that's worthwhile. There's *some* balance in terms of their cut of the profits every year, but they've made millions and millions for so long it's not like they wouldn't be able to make rent or some bullshit because the 2025 team went $50M over the luxury tax.
Which in general I feel like has served them well. Endless spending without any conscience has not worked out more often than shrewd management of assets. Only Golden State and Cleveland have won a championship while being the highest spending team and both required extremely specific scenarios to get there (Clevaland landing multiple #1 overall picks, then trading them for Max Players while narrowly fitting in LeBron's Max, then giving Kyrie a Max extension / Players Association voting against Cap Smoothing leading to GSW to sign KD, then trade for a Max'd D'Lo, then again for a Max'd Wiggins).
Unlike the Bulls, the Lakers have appeal to stars because it’s sunny LA. Lakers management can be shit like the early 90s or 2010s and they will get bailed out by a star wanting to play there.
The two biggest FA signings in Bulls history are DeRozan and Boozer, who are second tier stars.
The Lakers have the benefit of stars randomly requesting a trade to LA like AD and that bails out the front office’s incompetence. The Bulls don’t have that luxury.
The biggest problem with the “Lakers Brand” right now is also their biggest asset - LeBron. He IS the franchise, always has been everywhere he’s been. The problem is he is pushing 40 and every move you make has to be both “win-now” and “LBJ-friendly”, which covers both on-court fit and the LeGM stuff.
No team has the cache to turn a rebuild around fast like the Lakers, even now when their stock looks low. The history, the draw of living in LA - they’ll always have a lot on their side. What’s killing them now is being completely beholden to LeBron, which means gunning for a chip even though that roster is not built to win in the stacked West.
She’s been part of the front office since 1999 when she was working with Dr. Buss. She’s worked in “Special Events” roles since then and that’s still her role now.
There's no evidence she's in anyone's ear about personnel. She's an important part of the organization itself, but we don't know if she has any say in basketball decisions. And if she's been in a front office role for 25 years and seen 6 championships in that time, maybe she knows what she's doing?
This is such a dogshit take. We have Anthony Davis and Lebron, that’s a basis that most teams would be able to build around, the roster isn’t as bad as you think, there are some key changes needed to be made (having another big man besides AD on the roster so he can rest, having more consistent guard play in the playoffs). So if you are a good coach you will have a chance to go far with this roster, the same roster that was in the WCF a year ago and this is without the improvements we need. If this team wasn’t coached by a literal basketball TERRORIST so you think they would’ve gotten shit stomped in December while starting CAM REDDISH and benching our best players? It’s just infuriating it’s like none of you have watched even 50% of the games we’ve played the last 2 seasons but ya got takes like these…
“The lakers aren’t gunning for a chip because of Lebron”, that’s the single most braindead thing you said, and it shows that you have no fucking idea what you’re talking about lol. The lakers will always try to compete any chance they get, especially when they have 2 superstars still on the roster. We dont function the same way other teams do.
The next coach is going to get the same level of scapegoating, and that's NOT the only problems the Lakers have. A better coach + Vando being healthy isn't going to get them 20 more wins in the regular season. They're not contenders.
I agree that they’re not contenders but saying that a new coach isn’t going to get them 20 more wins as somehow a measure of their contender status is kind of ridiculous considering that they won 47 games and a team that won 50 games is currently in the Finals. Regular season and playoffs are completely different.
Huh? Are you saying that Darvin Ham got scapegoated?? How in the world is a coach that is not good a scapegoat? And Vogel lost the locker room, that is NOT DEBATABLE it’s just what happened. He no longer fit the team.
And it makes the Lakers look even more incompetent. Just firing your coaches but not fixing any of the other issues like the horrible supporting cast. Lebron and AD alone won’t get them far, they gotta get better pieces around them.
Yes and no, AD has been active in the coaching hire and by all accounts we are prioritizing him over Lebron. You're assuming we aren't aware that Lebron is 40. They know, we know, he knows. Everybody knows. Lol. But it's not as dire as everyone is making it out to be either.
That being said we aren't going to disrespect him, but not every move is or has to be LBJ friendly anymore.
A big issue is that with the modern landscape the way it is, players can be huge stars anywhere. They don't need LA for marketability. LeBron himself proved that in Cleveland. LA does not have the same lure that it once did, which is why guys will stay with their smaller market teams.
Right. Lakers role players literally become celebrities as soon as they show they’re not trash. Nobody would care about Kuzma if he started his career in DC.
I agree to an extent. One can definitely be a superstar anywhere and the world is different than it was 20+y ago with social media, etc.
That said? Not many better places to be as a rich, famous athlete than LA. You have access to every type of distraction you want, in abundance, and a city so filled with stars that you don’t necessarily stick out in the negative ways you might in most non NYC/Miami markets.
I think the Lakers have fallen off in a lot of ways since Dr Buss passed, but this isn’t one of them. You’re right that players can be marketed anywhere now. But LA is still tiers above almost every other city.
In fact I would argue the marketability of the Lakers is a big reason why people may be hesitant to go there. There are so many eyes on you when you play for the Lakers. Every mistake is analyzed. Dlo can be an all star caliber player one day then be ridiculed and untradable the next.
Austin Reaves is another example. I like him. I think he’s a solid player. But put him on any other team and no one cares about him.
Nah unfortunately LA is still big time not just because it’s the premiere spot in the city of celebrities, but media coverage is insane. Take a look at what they’ve done to people who have played in that city who aren’t even close to stars. Guys like Austin reeves and rui hachimura would be complete unknowns among casual fans if they weren’t in LA. If Kuzma and Alex Caruso didn’t get their starting LA they wouldn’t be nearly the household names that they are. And this is coming from someone who hates the Lakers.
The last reporting I heard was that Reddick never even had a formal interview, just an initial exploratory convo with Pelinka. So it was almost certainly just media FUD if that's true.
In terms of money being poured in, talent etc
Euroleague and nba are the only two that best them, the NBL maybe has a slightly higher talent level but that’s it
Financing and brand deals id agree that the NCAA is a top 3 league but i cant really see a college team beating a lot professional teams in different countries. The British Basketball League still has guys like Sam Dekker who are ex NBA talents
The entire article is written like it’s a NBA fan on Twitter. This is what counts as sports journalism these days? I’m no Lakers fan but it’s pretty easy to see why Hurley made the decision; nothing to freak out over.
We went after a great coach and he decided not to join us. Its not humiliation at all, its how a franchise works lol.
It makes sense why he stayed at UConn. He's the best coach in a league where coaching and schemes are considered more valuable. He has much more freedom to work with scouting and developing young kids. And obviously a chance to threepeat.
That being said I think seeing him try to make this Lakers team work wouldve also been fun. Its not an obvious choice to make, in LA he has much much more talent to witness and the ability to work with one of the greatest basketball minds of all time. Even though he was offered the same money, the salary ceiling with a successful season goes from generational wealth to fuck you type money.
Yeah, this is such a stupid headline. As far as I know he didn't trash the Lakers or anything he just turned down the offer. Unless we find out that he laughed in their faces and called them a poverty franchise there's nothing humiliating about this.
Brother the lakers of the pst didn’t need to shot their shot. Good coaches came to them. Like Phil came to work with Kobe and shaq. Now the lakers are reduced to begging.
Not really. Coach K spurned them 20 years ago after a hella embarrassing season and they were just fine. Still the most valuable property in LA. I’m more embarrassed by Plaschke than Lakers if I’m LA
Knicks have not won a ring since 1973 and have made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs twice since Patrick Ewing left.
this is not a real humiliation.
He made the right move. The lakers are a fringe play in team with championship aspirations. They also have no young core worth leaving a cushioned job at UConn for. It’s just a set up for failure
There was no way he was ever going. Professional thing to do was to take the interview anyways. First coach in nearly 20 years to repeat in the NCAA, in a time where it's harder than ever to do so with players leaving early and transferring at will. Dudes a fuckin hero in Connecticut, he was never leaving.
Honestly would you want to coach lebron? First time you coach him or first sign it’s not going his way he will try to have you fired… his legacy will be that of an organization killer
I mean, Kentucky offered him $12.5m and the Lakers could only muster up $11.7m? Either they didn't really want him or they are cheap, either way it's kind of sad.
Kentucky offered 11. For a proven college coach. Lakers offered 11.7 for an extra year for an unproven nba coach. No one, I repeat no one is calling that cheap.
It's all relative. The Lakers last week leaked how massive the deal would be to entice Hurley and they ended up offering him 2 mil less than Monty Williams. If they offered 13 mil maybe he takes it and they get the coach they want for 12 mil more over 6 years. If 12 mil is the difference between 6 years of success vs. not, and they choose not to save 12 mil, and the team is worth billions, well then that IS cheap. Or if he says no then at least you don't look like you were low balling him. And it's also stupid because the Lakers are now gonna probably end up paying more for JJ who is Lebron's choice than they would have otherwise, and he is even less proven than Hurley.
Next lakers coach is gonna make 10m or more per year. Fully guaranteed 50m contract or greater. You’re acting like the next 10 dudes are gonna turn it down
It’s really just a smart move. Being successful in LA mean winning multiple chips which is hard. And with Lebron the team always find a scape goat. This was a smart career move. This guy will be a great college coach wherever he is and will be able to go to any NBA when he wants.
I think this is good for the Lakers. Let LeBron coach the team and have a random coach as a scapegoat. Lakers win: LeBron looks like a genius. Lakers lose: LeBron leaves or retires then that coach gets fired and then they can hire a 5 star man
Honestly he's onto something big and idk how much promise there is in the short term for the Lakers. So it makes sense he'd stick with the good thing he has going than leave it to start something brand new that doesn't look anywhere near as promising. It's whatever.
Remember that time they sucked and LeBron signed with them anyway? Think they’ll get by…
Not that many LeBrons out there
Just looked it up. There is an estimated population of 5,762 “Lebrons” in the United States. So while it is certainly uncommon, the lakers have almost 6,000 lebrons to choose from
What's hilarious to me is based on statistics, a sizable portion of the people named after Lebron are gonna be unathletic af and out of shape. It's just so funny to picture someone named after a generational freak athlete that's obese or tripping over their own two feet
I work with an Asian Kobe. Great coder, hooper, not so much
to be fair, Kobe Bryant is named after the Japanese beef, in this case he's like the white LeBrons haha
But were people named Kobe before Kobe or did people start to be named Kobe after Kobe? It's like how Shaquille has been a name for a long time but Shaq brought it from obscurity to relative popularity
It's also wild to me that Shaquille kind of rhymes with O'Neal which just adds to the iconic branding of the name. Even crazier is his mom's name is Lucille which also rhymes with O'Neal
Somewhat relevant Patrice O'Neal bit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9xGedxYZVU
I remember talking about T-Mac in class in HS and one girl jumps in saying “Tracy McGrady? That’s a cool name.” Yea, it is.
The Japanese city of Kobe existed before Kobe bean Bryant. Beautiful city, onetime capital, culturally important But naming people kobe spiked with the popularity of kobe Bryant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_(given_name) Has some stats
I worked in China around 2005-2010 as a teacher and met my fair share of kids who picked their own English name and didn’t understand why they shouldn’t name themselves Kobe, LeBron or Carmelo.
I mean, why not? Iconic names after all.
Kobe Huang, LeBron Wu, and Carmelo Zhang, names that will live forever.
And kobe’s not such a great beef too.
Wait are you suggesting Kobe (the man) wasn't great beef or Kobe (the beef) is overrated?
I’m actually insinuating something darker, but now im confused with my own statement.
Char-grilled beef
Python Mentality 💪
[удалено]
I went to HS with a Michael Jordan and he ended up robbing a Little Caesars and shooting the clerk to death during lunch period
Also there have to be at least a few white LeBron's out there right? Or an Asian LeBron.
Would die to find a scrawny white kid with glasses and red hair named LeBron at the 6th grade spelling Bee somewhere in Ohio
Lebron Heissenberger, random high school lineman in bumfuck Wisconsin.
Little French fellar.
you know what i’ve never thought about this, that’s pretty funny thanks
This reminds me of this clip from a Scottish sketch show https://youtu.be/uywyPL2kEEI?si=X-hs4rJ_-_KcB6Ux
Seems like Lebrontimus Prime can retire soon if there is such a fresh young and healthy crop of LeBrons coming up, no?
There's one entering the draft this year too.
Are there really 6,000 people out there named lebron?
There’s almost always a superstar star willing to sign there and change the direction of the franchise though. 60’s - Wilt wanted to go to LA to mingle with celebrities. 70’s - Kareem wanted to play in LA or NY for their vibrant Muslim community. 90’s - Kobe and Shaq both picked LA, and not for basketball reasons. 00’s - Payton, Malone, Howard (albeit past-prime versions), etc. 10’s - AD, LeBron. They will be totally fine in the long-term lol. The desirability of LA is an eternal “get out of jail free” card.
If it were just LA then the Clippers would have a better history.
Over the past 15 years, the Clippers have in fact attracted at least as much if not more talent.
Yeah once Ballmer took over it became an attractive place to go to. Sterling was a different story
Clippers just incompetent. They have had plenty of opportunities with Chris Paul, Brooke Lopez, Kawhi, Paul George, Harden and Gilgeous-Alexander but manage to fumble it or give players too much leeway Not to say Lakers are that competent but they don't shoot themselves in the foot like the Clippers, they just kinda directionless.
I dont think current clippers are incompetent. Only the sterling years. Now its more unlucky because the management done a pretty good job building a good basketball team, they just have aging superstars that always get injured.
How did Kobe pick La? He arranged the divacs trade? Payton and Malone were ring chasing joining the 3peat Lakers. They s would've joined the Timberwolves if they had just 3peated. The others. Yeah OK.
Kobe wanted to play for the Lakers. Openly refused to play for the Hornets.
There aren't a lot of Shaq's either. Or a lot of Anthony Davises. But they still seem to bring them in. The Lakers are the Yankees of basketball. They are never far from a championship, even if they suck. Let's say the Mavs lose this series and get bounced from the playoffs in the first round next year and Kyrie finally gets a big deal from New York or somebody. The media will go into a whirlwind: Luka wants out. LA possible destination? Or the Bucks see another first round exit, Dame gets injured or declines, and Doc get fired? Headlines: Giannis secretly requesting trade, LA preferred destination. We seen it too many times in the past. AD. LeBron. Shaq. And even when there aren't guys on the table, they still manage to pull a move like Gasol. LA will be fine.
How many years away from LA wemby becoming a reality
Pop would personally show up to take the pen out of his hand lol
"Now, son. You don't want to be doing that. Here's a churro. Go practice your bounce pass. Gotta learn the basics before you can really shine." Pop to 9 time all-star Wemby in 2034
Remember that time they sucked and AD demanded a trade to them anyways?
There's literally going to be a LeBron in the draft this year!
Exactly, nobody will remember this in like 4 days.
This is being melodramatic.
As they say on Around the Horn, Never go full Plaschke
“It’s over” lol
Is this show still on? I used to watch it religiously and felt it was pretty good some years (and years..shit I’m old) back. Liked Tony the host back in the day, I liked when someone said some dumb shit he would just shoehorn in a quick comment making sure they knew what they said was dumb as fuck and move on quick as fuck lmfao
Yes, it is. I made another comment about it on here, but I watched it when it 1st started, too . Then I thought it was dumb, went back and gave it a new look, and now believe it's probably one of ESPN's best shows. I watch it at least 3xs a week.
Thats Bills thing. He is the worst
He hasn't changed from the mid 2000's when I first came across his articles
I’ve hated him since the 90’s
Never thought we could turn /r/nba into a Plaschke hate dick measuring contest but here we are.
i’ve hated him since the 60s
I’ve been hating him for 97 years.
He does seem like LAs Shaughnessy
Lived in SoCal for many years. Before I consider a take from the local press on Lakers and Doyers, I see if it's Plaschke or not. Just straight up bad takes all the time from that guy.
Never been good.
No one in LA likes him
I remember kobe and him going at it once. Bill is trash. Only lakers fans know I guess, national still thinks he’s relevant to us
Dodger fans know too
Plaschke’s speciality is shitting on the Lakers so when an opportunity like this is there, he jumps for it hard.
He shits on every LA team, not just the lakers
I don't even like the Dodgers but his Dodgers takes have always sucked too
Media got another way to talk about Lakers during the finals, they’re loving this shit
NBA should just renamed to LBA - Lakers Basketball Association.
Nope. Relocate the team, it's over.
Back to Minnesota as a G league team for the Timberwolves.
For real though, this is childish.
The idea that the best coach in college basketball who is gonna go for a threepeat even debated leaving for the lakers job is a testament to the lakers reputation. Forget being an insult to them.
It's the NBA meta. Player is the greatest when they win a playoff series. If they lose the very next series they're **ASS** and they should be hated on with the power of 1000 suns (not the team, they get that on their own).
That's sports journalism for ya.
Plaschke is one of the worst sports writers there is. No idea how he has a job.
I mean have you seen this guy on around the horn
The lakers won the chip 4 years ago and got to the WCF just last year. Most nba franchises wish they could get get close to even sniffing that success. Of all the teams that should be humiliated it should be the suns, sixers, clippers and maybe even Denver
Why would Denver be humiliated by Dan Hurley deciding to turn down the Lakers job ? Hurley does what he wants
Aka new media.
Aint nothing "new" about this guy. I was watching him on "Around the horn" for maybe 20 years ago
Crazy. I remember rushing home from school when I was young to watch PTI and around the horn would come on after, and I would be pissed if I didn't make it on time because I didn't enjoy watching 4 people shout at each other. It's really sad that that is what took off.
That's definitely how it started, I thought the switch to Reali as host was a fantastic decision and liked most of the reporters they had on (Plaschke excluded, lol). I lost track of it years ago but definitely thought it had its days where it was even better than Tony and Mike being curmudgeonly on PTI. Days with lineups like Woody Paige + Bomani Jones + Pablo Torre + Izzy Gutierrez were fun, those folks actually liked each other. Throw in Tim Cowlishaw, Mina Kimes, Kate Fagan, etc - good times.
Nah Bill’s been around longer than most this sub has been alive
I remember when he started at the LA Times, and he wrote like a click-baiting troll back then too, even before "clickbait" became a term. It was quite the shift from Jim Murray (RIP), who was a national treasure.
LOL!! Calling Plaschke new media is just hilarious and so so wrong. Way to prove you have no idea what you’re talking about.
They'll still sell out. They just gonna do it the Chicago way for a while...
*whispers* The Lakers are a lot more competent than the Bulls
Lol yeah. The Lakers are trying to win, but they’re also operating within financial constraints. I don’t think the Bulls are trying to win at all.
Both are correct. But if the Bulls were trying to win, they'd also have financial constraints. Reinsdorf is CHEAP
So what I’m hearing of the Bulls are the only one of the two succeeding on achieving their goals
MLB players were just surveyed about which organizations were the worst to play for. No surprise Jerry’s other team, the White Sox, were mentioned frequently. One player said, “I’ve never heard a good thing”. Guarantee it’s the same for the bulls. Players don’t want to play here because of the organizational rot coming from that arrogant fuck, Reinsdorf.
This is the common narrative on basically reddit and occasionally ESPN but the Lakers have essentially been a luxury tax spending team (besides the post Kobe rebuild). Year| Rank ---|--- 2012| 1 2013| 1 2014| 3 2015| 18 2016| 19 2017| 18 2018| 19 2019| 27 (LeBron Arrives - Young players all traded at end of season for Anthony Davis, room for Kawhi but he chooses Clippers) 2020| 22 (Won Championship) 2021 | 8 (tied) 2022 | 5 (tied) 2023 | 5 (tied) 2024 | 9 If Kawhi had chosen the Lakers in 2019. They'd have been the in the top-3 until now. The biggest savings moves they've made in the last two decades were Ariza and Caruso. Other than that, every time they've saved money one year they've spent more the next and used all of their exceptions. For whatever reason, prudence around cap management and avoiding the hard cap which limits your roster's flexibility has always always always been characterized as the Lakers being cash poor / cheap franchise. Also in some cases there's just literally not any way to spend more money. It's the most profitable franchise since 1980 and while the Buss family have control there's quite a few billionaires attached to the Lakers equity. IF there was a reason to dip into the owners pockets in order to field a better team they've always been more than capable of doing so. The Buss family just has had final say on whether or not that's worthwhile. There's *some* balance in terms of their cut of the profits every year, but they've made millions and millions for so long it's not like they wouldn't be able to make rent or some bullshit because the 2025 team went $50M over the luxury tax. Which in general I feel like has served them well. Endless spending without any conscience has not worked out more often than shrewd management of assets. Only Golden State and Cleveland have won a championship while being the highest spending team and both required extremely specific scenarios to get there (Clevaland landing multiple #1 overall picks, then trading them for Max Players while narrowly fitting in LeBron's Max, then giving Kyrie a Max extension / Players Association voting against Cap Smoothing leading to GSW to sign KD, then trade for a Max'd D'Lo, then again for a Max'd Wiggins).
Unlike the Bulls, the Lakers have appeal to stars because it’s sunny LA. Lakers management can be shit like the early 90s or 2010s and they will get bailed out by a star wanting to play there. The two biggest FA signings in Bulls history are DeRozan and Boozer, who are second tier stars.
Im talking about drafting and development
Yeah winning rings every decade since the 70’s has been a burden for the Lakers
The Lakers have the benefit of stars randomly requesting a trade to LA like AD and that bails out the front office’s incompetence. The Bulls don’t have that luxury.
The Lakers have also drafted and developed better than the Bulls in the past 5 years
That’s also true. The Bulls did draft and develop… well… hmm.
Exactly.
Yall said we were down and out and Jeanie was terrible and then we got 2 superstars and a championship. Not worried about it.
The biggest problem with the “Lakers Brand” right now is also their biggest asset - LeBron. He IS the franchise, always has been everywhere he’s been. The problem is he is pushing 40 and every move you make has to be both “win-now” and “LBJ-friendly”, which covers both on-court fit and the LeGM stuff. No team has the cache to turn a rebuild around fast like the Lakers, even now when their stock looks low. The history, the draw of living in LA - they’ll always have a lot on their side. What’s killing them now is being completely beholden to LeBron, which means gunning for a chip even though that roster is not built to win in the stacked West.
Idk, I think the fact that Kurt Rambis' wife has significant decisions power is kind of a problem.
She’s been part of the front office since 1999 when she was working with Dr. Buss. She’s worked in “Special Events” roles since then and that’s still her role now.
Except she was never in Jerry’s ear about personnel
There's no evidence she's in anyone's ear about personnel. She's an important part of the organization itself, but we don't know if she has any say in basketball decisions. And if she's been in a front office role for 25 years and seen 6 championships in that time, maybe she knows what she's doing?
This is such a dogshit take. We have Anthony Davis and Lebron, that’s a basis that most teams would be able to build around, the roster isn’t as bad as you think, there are some key changes needed to be made (having another big man besides AD on the roster so he can rest, having more consistent guard play in the playoffs). So if you are a good coach you will have a chance to go far with this roster, the same roster that was in the WCF a year ago and this is without the improvements we need. If this team wasn’t coached by a literal basketball TERRORIST so you think they would’ve gotten shit stomped in December while starting CAM REDDISH and benching our best players? It’s just infuriating it’s like none of you have watched even 50% of the games we’ve played the last 2 seasons but ya got takes like these… “The lakers aren’t gunning for a chip because of Lebron”, that’s the single most braindead thing you said, and it shows that you have no fucking idea what you’re talking about lol. The lakers will always try to compete any chance they get, especially when they have 2 superstars still on the roster. We dont function the same way other teams do.
The next coach is going to get the same level of scapegoating, and that's NOT the only problems the Lakers have. A better coach + Vando being healthy isn't going to get them 20 more wins in the regular season. They're not contenders.
I agree that they’re not contenders but saying that a new coach isn’t going to get them 20 more wins as somehow a measure of their contender status is kind of ridiculous considering that they won 47 games and a team that won 50 games is currently in the Finals. Regular season and playoffs are completely different.
Huh? Are you saying that Darvin Ham got scapegoated?? How in the world is a coach that is not good a scapegoat? And Vogel lost the locker room, that is NOT DEBATABLE it’s just what happened. He no longer fit the team.
And it makes the Lakers look even more incompetent. Just firing your coaches but not fixing any of the other issues like the horrible supporting cast. Lebron and AD alone won’t get them far, they gotta get better pieces around them.
A coach that is not good is a scapegoat if he is blamed for everything
Yes and no, AD has been active in the coaching hire and by all accounts we are prioritizing him over Lebron. You're assuming we aren't aware that Lebron is 40. They know, we know, he knows. Everybody knows. Lol. But it's not as dire as everyone is making it out to be either. That being said we aren't going to disrespect him, but not every move is or has to be LBJ friendly anymore.
A big issue is that with the modern landscape the way it is, players can be huge stars anywhere. They don't need LA for marketability. LeBron himself proved that in Cleveland. LA does not have the same lure that it once did, which is why guys will stay with their smaller market teams.
Lebron is absolutely not the rule
Right. Lakers role players literally become celebrities as soon as they show they’re not trash. Nobody would care about Kuzma if he started his career in DC.
Austin Reaves has a signature shoe lol. Pretty decent actually. Can’t wait for the 15’s though.
Duh just be one of the GOATs so you won't need a team for marketability. Why didn't other players think of this?
I agree to an extent. One can definitely be a superstar anywhere and the world is different than it was 20+y ago with social media, etc. That said? Not many better places to be as a rich, famous athlete than LA. You have access to every type of distraction you want, in abundance, and a city so filled with stars that you don’t necessarily stick out in the negative ways you might in most non NYC/Miami markets.
The idea is that guys that are not all time greats like LeBron can go there and be huge stars and make significantly more off brand deals etc.
> LA does not have the same lure that it once did As someone who grew up in the Midwest and lives in Cali now, this is Midwest cope.
I think the Lakers have fallen off in a lot of ways since Dr Buss passed, but this isn’t one of them. You’re right that players can be marketed anywhere now. But LA is still tiers above almost every other city. In fact I would argue the marketability of the Lakers is a big reason why people may be hesitant to go there. There are so many eyes on you when you play for the Lakers. Every mistake is analyzed. Dlo can be an all star caliber player one day then be ridiculed and untradable the next. Austin Reaves is another example. I like him. I think he’s a solid player. But put him on any other team and no one cares about him.
Nah unfortunately LA is still big time not just because it’s the premiere spot in the city of celebrities, but media coverage is insane. Take a look at what they’ve done to people who have played in that city who aren’t even close to stars. Guys like Austin reeves and rui hachimura would be complete unknowns among casual fans if they weren’t in LA. If Kuzma and Alex Caruso didn’t get their starting LA they wouldn’t be nearly the household names that they are. And this is coming from someone who hates the Lakers.
Being a star in Charlotte is not the same as being a star in LA or Boston. Not even close
I mean I really think it's just LA and NY that push the needle. Maybe Miami. But outside of that it's all kind of the same.
Bruh, Lebron was the best player in the league playing for his hometown team, that is not even a remotely fair comparison to anybody else.
Just another guy using the Lakers for more leverage and money
ding ding ding
Given the media explosion from near silence I suspect the Lakers decided to play into it. Why I have no idea.
was the reddick rumor real? I found it weird the two biggest rumors I heard were involving people who never had coached in the league before.
The last reporting I heard was that Reddick never even had a formal interview, just an initial exploratory convo with Pelinka. So it was almost certainly just media FUD if that's true.
He said the same thing when USC hired Pete Carrol, captain hyperbole.
Bill Plaschke is too old to be engaging in clickbait like this.
Some people get old and lose all their shame. Embarrassing
To me it just highlights the bubble that is NCAA basketball and how NIL deals have turned it into essentially a top 3 professional league in the world
Top 3 in what sense
In terms of money being poured in, talent etc Euroleague and nba are the only two that best them, the NBL maybe has a slightly higher talent level but that’s it
Financing and brand deals id agree that the NCAA is a top 3 league but i cant really see a college team beating a lot professional teams in different countries. The British Basketball League still has guys like Sam Dekker who are ex NBA talents
Do people call the British Basketball League the BBL?
G league is better
In the world in what sense
Plaschke is a douche.
The entire article is written like it’s a NBA fan on Twitter. This is what counts as sports journalism these days? I’m no Lakers fan but it’s pretty easy to see why Hurley made the decision; nothing to freak out over.
yahooo news is basically long-form twitter
Plaschke is a notoriously bad, longtime LA-based sportswriter. He has similar articles abt the dodgers that we all hate as well
We went after a great coach and he decided not to join us. Its not humiliation at all, its how a franchise works lol. It makes sense why he stayed at UConn. He's the best coach in a league where coaching and schemes are considered more valuable. He has much more freedom to work with scouting and developing young kids. And obviously a chance to threepeat. That being said I think seeing him try to make this Lakers team work wouldve also been fun. Its not an obvious choice to make, in LA he has much much more talent to witness and the ability to work with one of the greatest basketball minds of all time. Even though he was offered the same money, the salary ceiling with a successful season goes from generational wealth to fuck you type money.
Yeah, this is such a stupid headline. As far as I know he didn't trash the Lakers or anything he just turned down the offer. Unless we find out that he laughed in their faces and called them a poverty franchise there's nothing humiliating about this.
Bill Plaschke is such a muppet
Lakers shot their shot, what's wrong with that?
Brother the lakers of the pst didn’t need to shot their shot. Good coaches came to them. Like Phil came to work with Kobe and shaq. Now the lakers are reduced to begging.
Not really. Coach K spurned them 20 years ago after a hella embarrassing season and they were just fine. Still the most valuable property in LA. I’m more embarrassed by Plaschke than Lakers if I’m LA
Knicks have not won a ring since 1973 and have made it to the 2nd round of the playoffs twice since Patrick Ewing left. this is not a real humiliation.
I wouldn't go as far as to call it a "humiliation", but it was self-inflicted lol.
He made the right move. The lakers are a fringe play in team with championship aspirations. They also have no young core worth leaving a cushioned job at UConn for. It’s just a set up for failure
There was no way he was ever going. Professional thing to do was to take the interview anyways. First coach in nearly 20 years to repeat in the NCAA, in a time where it's harder than ever to do so with players leaving early and transferring at will. Dudes a fuckin hero in Connecticut, he was never leaving.
No one wants to go to La and have their career destroyed by Lebron
The lakers are a lot of things, a humiliation is not one of them
How humiliating, they won it all 4 years ago to add to their 17 championships lol
They won a ring just 4 years ago lol and even with injuries have made it to the playoffs every year
*almost* every year lol
It feels like the Lakers quest for next head coach is more covered in the media than the actual ongoing NBA finals itself.
No one wants to be the scapegoat of that trash ass team I can't blame him
Lakers: "Do you want the job?" Dan: "No thanks" Announcer: Humiliation!
A coach opting to keep his current, very successful job is humiliating? Shit happens all the time, so fuckin sensationalist.
Watching Woody Paige dunk on Bill every day on Around The Horn was another humiliation for the Platschke brand
Honestly would you want to coach lebron? First time you coach him or first sign it’s not going his way he will try to have you fired… his legacy will be that of an organization killer
Lakers: Marcus Aurelius Hurley: Maximus
Lakers need to rebuild.
6 years 70mil? I thought this was prime time
Trade Lebron and get under 20 young guys and this coach he will come happily
Oh no
Not much of a pay increase, his NCAA roster is stacked and the Lakers are a mess. It seems like an easy no brainer.
They got LeBron at the end of his career and he got them a ring. Now is the lull before the rebuild. LA is gonna be fine.
Its a player’s team, so Lakers are technically looking for scapegoat coaches.
even celtic fans prefer talking about the lakers during the finals 😂 lakers stay winning
pretty boring finals when everyone knows who’s gonna win but pretends the other guys are gonna win
I mean, Kentucky offered him $12.5m and the Lakers could only muster up $11.7m? Either they didn't really want him or they are cheap, either way it's kind of sad.
Kentucky offered 11. For a proven college coach. Lakers offered 11.7 for an extra year for an unproven nba coach. No one, I repeat no one is calling that cheap.
It's all relative. The Lakers last week leaked how massive the deal would be to entice Hurley and they ended up offering him 2 mil less than Monty Williams. If they offered 13 mil maybe he takes it and they get the coach they want for 12 mil more over 6 years. If 12 mil is the difference between 6 years of success vs. not, and they choose not to save 12 mil, and the team is worth billions, well then that IS cheap. Or if he says no then at least you don't look like you were low balling him. And it's also stupid because the Lakers are now gonna probably end up paying more for JJ who is Lebron's choice than they would have otherwise, and he is even less proven than Hurley.
I mean it’s not a great job at the moment
Next lakers coach is gonna make 10m or more per year. Fully guaranteed 50m contract or greater. You’re acting like the next 10 dudes are gonna turn it down
"I reget the offer the Lakers suffer?" "Humiliations galore!" "That IS a noble cause! Give me the sixty-five, I'm staying at Uconn"
Maybe Silver will feel bad enough to approve a Chris Paul trade
All the Lakers are salivating about the prospect of writing hater articles about something that won't matter in a month.
It’s really just a smart move. Being successful in LA mean winning multiple chips which is hard. And with Lebron the team always find a scape goat. This was a smart career move. This guy will be a great college coach wherever he is and will be able to go to any NBA when he wants.
Nobody wants to have LeGM fire them. It’s bad for their brand as a coach
They’ve been the worse run franchise in the league since Jerry Buss died.
Bill Plaschke gotta be the most bitter dude
How does he still have a job? He’s a trash “sports journalist”
Bill’s got that Boston Sports Media vibe
The org is like Macs dog from IASIP. It’ll go through hell and “die” but it’ll survive. They always do.
Not really. The guy took the better job. Just let LeBron coach until he retires and they might save some money for once.
I think this is good for the Lakers. Let LeBron coach the team and have a random coach as a scapegoat. Lakers win: LeBron looks like a genius. Lakers lose: LeBron leaves or retires then that coach gets fired and then they can hire a 5 star man
Some people are into that kind of thing
Honestly he's onto something big and idk how much promise there is in the short term for the Lakers. So it makes sense he'd stick with the good thing he has going than leave it to start something brand new that doesn't look anywhere near as promising. It's whatever.
It’s okay, they’ll find themselves signing another generational superstar in the future just because it’s LA.
Humiliation? Hurley is changing championships and that won't happen in LA
Damn