She said this on Sam Amicks "Tampering" podcast in the latest episode. This was around the 37 minute mark. Highly recommend this episode. Lots of great details. Here are a few.
- She says regardless of the length of Lebron's tenure with the Lakers, he will be a laker forever.
- She was touched that LeBron invoked Jerry Buss name after the Rockets series
- says Lebron knew a lot about Laker history, how Jerry Buss innovated and changed the game, and was curious about every detail.
Prettycrazy that so many people died since only 2010. It's not fair that such nice and good people died so soon, many of them integral to the NBAs success. It was surreal seeing them on stage together, almost like God was mocking us. Almost puts things in perspective, how unbelievably short life is and how precious it is. And how unfair it is.
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ESPN Senior Writer Ramona Shelburne on The Mason and Ireland Show yesterday afternoon on why Jeanie chose Magic:
“… Jerry Buss, her dad, had told her, ‘it’s my dream for you and Earvin to run the Lakers one day’ … he said this to her and Magic on his deathbed.”
So don’t expect her to fire Magic.
This from an article highlighting the extent to which Shaq's poor conditioning impacted his career. I felt it was relevant given Kobe's recent comments.
>When the Orlando Magic drafted Shaquille O'Neal with the first pick of the 1992 NBA Draft, he looked nothing like the massive, hulking bruiser he is today. The 7-foot-1 phenom out of LSU arrived in the NBA weighing less than 300 pounds--294 to be exact--and with so much real estate for that weight, he looked normal, even kinda skinny.
>The Orlando Magic iteration of Shaq was a mutant gazelle, effortlessly galloping down the court like no person standing over seven feet tall ever should. While late in his career, teams had slow their offense in order to wait for Shaq to join them on the offensive end, Orlando's players could barely keep up with him. He could dribble the ball up court, rise for absurd alley-oops and pull spin moves in the post as quick as the Tasmanian Devil.
>But Shaq left Orlando for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996, and his body began to change. It was slow at first, a gradual increase in the size of his shoulders and arms. But by the time the Lakers had won their first NBA championship with Shaq at the end of the 1999-2000 season, Shaq barely resembled the trim, supremely athletic center he was once. By 2002, he weighed 341 pounds. By the 2003-2004 NBA season, Shaq had expanded outward like a helium balloon, with his weight at one point reaching a whopping 370 pounds.
>So what happened? How'd one of the greatest centers ever to play the game gain almost 100 pounds? There are a couple of reasons, and the first has everything to do with basketball.
>In the off-season after his first championship, Shaq was tired of being pushed around in the post. Despite averaging 30 points per game during the postseason, Shaq felt he needed to add a significant amount of mass to his frame to prolong his superior play. From Fox Sports' Charley Rosen:
>It was after the Lakers' first championship that Shaq made a decision that had immediate rewards but proved to be a long-range disaster. Feeling that massive centers like Arvydas Sabonis and Luc Longley were pushing him around in the low post, Shaq felt that he needed to be heavier. In his equation, mass equaled power equaled total domination. He therefore instructed his personal chef to overload his meals with meat and potatoes and the pounds quickly began to accumulate.
>Thinking about it now, the idea that the almighty Shaq neede
... keep reading on reddit ➡Full Tweets:
>Via @ramonashelburne I think this (Lakers HC) could wrap up fairly soon, by the end of this week, (early) next week...There are some people (in org) who probly prefer Monty and some people who probly prefer Ty" @ESPNLosAngeles
>Via @ramonashelburne They really think Rob (Pelinka) is good and believe in Rob. Jerry Buss's 1 hallmark was loyalty, they believe at this moment this is was loyalty is about... Also the Kobe component, if you sever the tie with Pelinka do u rip that with Kobe?
https://twitter.com/Ralph_MasonJr/status/1124043746167984129
Everyone who is hysterically hyperventilating about the Lakers' "dysfunctional" front office needs to remember we are talking about the Lakers. We should be used to this sort of thing. The key thing is they have Lebron, good young players, and cap space. They will be good. And those who are already declaring Jeanie to be a bad owner, don’t forget that Jerry Buss, the guy you all praise, oversaw one of the craziest, most bungled coaching hires ever -- that of Pat Riley.
Of course, it all started like the current situation: with an emotional outburst from Magic that shocked the basketball world and led to confusion in the media and front office. This article from when Mike Brown was fired has great background on that hire. Here are the key parts:
> Two games later, it all blows up. Magic Johnson, already clashing with Westhead's restrictive style, snaps after the coach yells at him during a late timeout. The Lakers win, but Magic trudges to the locker room and shocks the sports world by publicly requesting to be traded.
> Buss, of course, would sooner trade his own limb than Magic—and he's already decided to axe Westhead. Knowing, unfortunately, that Magic will get the heat for this, Buss fires Westhead the next day.
> Melodrama ensues. Magic is immediately vilified, because to the public it appears he, Magic Johnson—a player—has essentially fired his own coach. It's unheard of and threatening. Sports aren't supposed to work like this.
> But before people can even assimilate that, before the season-long cascade of boos are directed at Magic, even by his own fans, before Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray, the dean of American sportswriters, calls Buss "an unfit owner," before the avalanche of letters to the editor denouncing Magic as a spoiled, temper tantrum-throwing egomaniac are printed ... the Lakers have to, you know, pick a new coach.
> Hastily, Buss debates his options with Sharman and West. They want Westhead's assistant, Pat Riley, who had never coached at any level before two years ago. Buss is unsure, worried that Riley would be in over his head. In fact, Buss wants West to coach the Lakers, and says that if he does, Riley could stay on as his assistant co-coach, or something, and West can slowly turn the reins over to Riley. Or not. The details are fuzzy for everyone. West kind of ag
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6 years without making the playoffs. Thank god he doesn’t have to witness this travesty. We are the Knicks west. It just seems like from ownership downwards nobody has a plan or a clue on how to win. I thought the post Shaq years were bad at one point....l
Just a dejected laker fan over year. This season looked so promising after Christmas Day. It’s proof that chemistry and injuries matter a lot.
