One of the most consistent things said about the Los Angeles Lakers throughout their run to the 2020 NBA championship was that the roster was extremely close and the chemistry was excellent.
But that closeness also extended to the front office, from team owner Jeanie Buss to vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and on down. Returning the Lakers to the championship level was a long process that took a lot of work from many who will never receive the credit for everything they’ve done.
All of the inner workings that went into building this roster will never be known, but everyone involved did the necessary work. The front office came under a lot of criticism, but they silenced the doubters this year as everyone was on the same page.
In an interview with Allen Sliwa of ESPN, Buss spoke about the front office, saying no one cares about who gets the credit and that’s why they work so well:
“How we operate is that it’s a very collaborative group, and there isn’t any worry about who’s going to get credit. You know, we don’t have any leaks from any media network, so people are free to express their views without worrying that it will get out on social media five minutes later.”
Buss further touched on the work everyone put in and how it was their mantra throughout the season:
“We’re a group that works together, respects one another, believes in each other, and everybody does the work. That’s really been our mantra since trying to put the team back on this winning path, which was that it’s going to take time and we have to do the work. And that’s what we did, and the results speak for that work.”
Obviously most of the attention will go to the players as that is who everyone is watching, but a lot goes into putting everything together. A dynasty in any sport can’t exist without the entire organization being on the same page and this Lakers franchise seems to be at that right now.
Rob Pelinka garners ‘little support’ for Executive of the Year
One of the biggest victims of the lack of credit was Pelinka who came under major fire following the resignation of Magic Johnson after the 2019 season. But like the rest of the Lakers front office, he simply put his head down and went to work, constructing a roster that would go on and win a championship.
But despite turning the roster around from one of the worst teams to the Western Conference’s best record, Pelinka got little support from his peers for the Executive of the Year Award as many looked at the influence of LeBron James and agent Rich Paul as reasons to take away from Pelinka.
These aren’t the things that drive Pelinka and the Lakers front office however, as they are far more focused on the end result, which is the championship they captured.
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