The Los Angeles Lakers announced that they have officially hired former Miami Heat executive Eric Amsler as the franchise’s new assistant general manager, player personnel.
Amsler spent 22 years in the Heat organization working his way up from intern all the way up to vice president of player personnel. He moves to the Lakers now as the second part of the two promised assistant GMs when Mark Walter purchased the majority share of the franchise from the Buss family.
Although he is now in the process of selling the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, the Lakers still wanted to make that second hire after already bringing in Rohan Ramadas.
There were rumors that the Lakers were in a hiring freeze of some of their top positions, leading many to believe that they were no longer in the market for a second assistant GM for Rob Pelinka. Amsler, though, has been hired anyway, and will be tasked with helping guide the remainder of the team building around Luka Doncic and the slew of offseason signings.
In addition to Amsler, the Lakers also announced the hiring of Keith D’Amelio as director, integrated performance systems.
“Continuing to invest in and strengthen our basketball operations group is a top priority as we build for the long-term success of our team and players,” Pelinka said in a statement. “Eric and Keith bring a wealth of experience that will add valuable expertise across our organization. Eric is a highly respected talent evaluator with an extensive background in scouting and player personnel, while Keith brings a unique perspective at the intersection of athlete health, performance, sports science and technology. We are excited to welcome them both to the Lakers.”
This hiring is a good sign for the direction that Kushner and Iger want to take the team when they eventually becoming the majority stakeholders. It appears they want to continue the trend started by Walter of increasing the number of voices in the room and increasing the general level of expertise in the building.
Lakers expected to add Specter edition uniform for 2026-27 season
In addition to with the NBA Standard Issue Collection, the Lakers, alongside the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings, are going to have new Specter Edition uniforms for the 2026-27 season. The idea of the Specter Edition is to highlight each franchise’s place in the early history of the NBA.
The Lakers Specter Edition jersey has not yet been officially debuted, but Nike did offer an early preview. The jersey features a black base with yellow trim around the numbers and player last name. Also featured is a blue and white stripe near the shoulder area, seemingly in a tribute to the Lakers’ time in Minneapolis.
Across the chest is “Lakers” in a smaller-than-normal font and above that the trademark Nike swoosh.
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