Jeanie Buss stunned at a Time Warner Cable Media event Wednesday night, in which she would accept a leadership award on behalf of her father, the late Dr. Jerry Buss. She was arm and arm with her fiance, Phil Jackson, and as both the matriarch of the Lakers organization and a supporter of Jackson, was candidly honest about her unhappiness with the Lakers head coaching process.
“I was not happy with how things happened,” Jeanie said at the “View From The Top” upfront TWC Media event. “I just think it was a difficult process to go through. So ya, I was disappointed, but I’m biased. I don’t think anybody would judge me to say (Phil) is the best coach in the entire world. That’s my prerogative to feel that way. They had their reasons for doing what they did but I kind of have that what if. What if he had coached.”
Spoken like a true fan, Jeanie expressed the sentiments that much of Lakers Nation has felt at one time or another. Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, who also attended the event, said that he didn’t feel there were any hard feelings between himself and Phil, despite the surprising nature of a middle of the night phone call, in which Phil was told Mike D’Antoni was a better fit for this team. As a matter of fact, Kupchak said the he has chatted with Phil quite a bit since November and even called him a “consultant, of sorts.”
Has all of this affected Jeanie’s relationship with her brother, Jim Buss, the Executive Vice President of Player Personnel? Take a look in our video below and don’t forget to subscribe to our Lakers Nation YouTube Channel.
