Lakers Name Rob Pelinka Vice President Of Basketball Operations And General Manager

Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers promote Rob Pelinka to vice president of basketball operations and general manager, the team announced on January 10.

“I’m extremely pleased with the work Rob has done in order to put this franchise in a position for success,” Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said.

“His strong leadership skills, as well as his commitment to building a winning culture both on and off the court, have brought us one step closer to being a championship-caliber team and I look forward to our continued work.”

In addition to the promotion, the Lakers reportedly extended Pelinka’s original five-year contract with them, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:

Originally hired on March, 7 2017, Pelinka joined the Lakers shortly after Magic Johnson was named the president of basketball operations.

Led by the new front office, the Lakers had a two-year plan and signed LeBron James in 2018 NBA free agency while trading for Anthony Davis in the 2019 NBA offseason. With the best All-Star duo in the league, the Lakers are currently first in the Western Conference and second in the entire NBA.

As the Lakers are a championship contender now, Pelinka has come a long way since April 2019. Following Johnson’s surprising resignation, Pelinka was heavily criticized by the fans and media, but was focused on the task at hand.

With only James, Davis, Kyle Kuzma, and Talen Horton-Tucker on the roster, Pelinka signed the right supporting cast en route to a 30-7 record now.

Although Pelinka has proven himself to the Lakers and fans, he is not resting on this early success and looking for ways to improve the roster for June.

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