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Lakers Power Structure: Amid chaos, dysfunction, who runs Showtime?

By Josh Hill and Jason Cole

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 5: The Los Angeles Lakers huddle up prior to the game against the Indiana Pacers on February 5, 2019 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 5: The Los Angeles Lakers huddle up prior to the game against the Indiana Pacers on February 5, 2019 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Rob Pelinka, General Manager 

After what Magic did to Pelinka on Monday, it would be a miracle if he can be salvaged. Magic told the basketball world that Pelinka is literally a “backstabber.” In the catty world of NBA players, there isn’t much worse that can be done to anyone. Throw in the fact that Lue could get neither the length of a contract nor the power to run his staff and Pelinka clearly wants more control than is healthy for a man with three years of management experience.

Then again, if you’ve ever read Pelinka’s Wikipedia page, there is no question Pelinka is a self-aggrandizing man who worked his way from being Kobe Bryant’s agent to executive.

In Los Angeles, self-aggrandizement can work. L.A. loves a good a remake. Still, Pelinka is the kind of guy who gets too full of himself and gets exposed under the glare of public light. Again, his Wikipedia page pumps up his high school basketball achievements as if he were the second-coming of John Stockton … except for that stuff called talent.

Pelinka tried to put a brave face Monday, but it was false bravado. He denied stabbing Magic in the back, even though Pelinka managed to convince Buss not to replace Magic. By doing that, it was clear that Pelinka was only trying to solidify his power within the organization. During the press conference to announce Vogel — which was more interrogation than parade — Pelinka dared to say that the Lakers were still an attractive place for star free agents.

Perhaps, but only because Los Angeles is a great place to live and the team has LeBron.

Pelinka is going into free agency with no juice of his own. With Magic, Pelinka had a great closer. Sure, Magic didn’t want to do a lot of scouting of players in Europe or go on road trips to college games. That was a problem. But to undermine Magic was idiocy because of what he added to the team. If you have a great free agent and you want to finish the negotiation, you bring him to Magic’s office, let Magic flash his smile and his rings, then let Magic show the player around Los Angeles.

That worked with LeBron, who joined the Lakers in part because he wanted to be in Los Angeles and, in part, trusted that having Magic around would assure the basketball element of the equation would be good.

That’s salesmanship and a quality Pelinka, of all people, should have understood. The fact he missed that speaks to his own bloated sense of self. As a result, Pelinka destroyed the best non-playing asset he had. Magic could have been in the closer role for a decade, doing for the Lakers what Jerry Buss used to do in closing deals with great players.

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