Title: “The Lakers Paradox: Jeanie Buss, Team Changes, and the Stagnation of Success”
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most storied franchises in NBA history, with a tradition of winning and a global fanbase that spans generations. With stars like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, and Shaquille O’Neal, the Lakers have captured the imagination of basketball fans worldwide. However, in recent years, despite frequent changes in coaching staff, player rosters, and management under the stewardship of Jeanie Buss, the results have remained frustratingly similar. Despite the franchise’s wealth, talent, and global brand, the Lakers have faced years of mediocrity, failed playoff appearances, and internal turmoil. This paradox — of seemingly endless change with little to no improvement in results — is a curious and frustrating aspect of Jeanie Buss’s reign as owner.
The Role of Jeanie Buss in Lakers Ownership
Jeanie Buss took over control of the Los Angeles Lakers in 2013, following the death of her father, Dr. Jerry Buss, who had transformed the Lakers into an elite sports franchise. Jeanie’s transition into the role of owner was not without its challenges, as she faced scrutiny both from fans and the media, with many questioning whether a woman could successfully manage one of the NBA’s most prestigious franchises. However, her initial years as owner did bring some hope, especially after she made key changes to the team’s operations and management.
Under Jeanie’s leadership, the Lakers initially sought to return to their glory days, but the results have been anything but consistent. The team’s fluctuating performance since her takeover — punctuated by a brief but shining championship in 2020 — highlights the core issue: the constant instability in the team’s roster, coaching staff, and front-office personnel.
The Constant Changes: Player Trades and Coaching Changes
One of the defining characteristics of Jeanie Buss’s tenure has been the high turnover in the Lakers’ roster. Since she became the owner, the Lakers have consistently traded away key players, attempted to rebuild, and yet, have struggled to form a sustainable winning team. From the disastrous acquisition of Dwight Howard in 2012 to the pursuit of superstar trades like Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook, it’s clear that Jeanie’s Lakers have tried almost every method of creating a championship-caliber squad.
The trading of star players has often come with high hopes, but the results have been inconsistent at best. While acquiring superstar players like Anthony Davis in 2019 resulted in a brief but thrilling championship run in 2020, the acquisition of Russell Westbrook was a different story. Despite his past successes, Westbrook’s fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis proved to be a mismatch, and the Lakers’ failure to form effective team chemistry led to a first-round playoff exit in 2021, followed by an even more disappointing 2022 season. The constant reshuffling of players, including some promising young talents like Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and D’Angelo Russell, has done little to stabilize the team or yield lasting success.
The team has also cycled through an array of coaches under Jeanie Buss’s reign. The Lakers’ coaching changes have been among the most visible shifts, with notable names like Mike D’Antoni, Byron Scott, Luke Walton, and Frank Vogel all passing through the Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) doors. Vogel, in particular, was brought in to bring stability and was the head coach during the team’s 2020 championship run. However, despite the success in the bubble season, Vogel’s tenure ended in disappointment with the team failing to make significant progress in subsequent years.
Coaching changes have often been a reaction to underperformance or dissatisfaction from both the front office and fans, but the coaching carousel itself has failed to provide long-term stability. The failure to commit to a consistent system, while repeatedly changing the team’s playing style and tactics, has contributed to the Lakers’ inability to develop any lasting identity or culture of success.
The Front Office’s Failures
In addition to changes in the roster and coaching staff, the Lakers’ front office has experienced its own struggles. While Jeanie Buss has often been lauded for her role in maintaining the Lakers’ high standards of business operations and brand power, her choices in basketball operations have been more contentious. Under her ownership, the Lakers’ front office has had a revolving door of executives, some of whom have been more interested in short-term success than long-term growth.
The most notable of these was the hiring of Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations in 2017. Magic’s arrival was initially seen as a game-changing move, as the legendary point guard brought a wealth of basketball knowledge and a magnetic personality. However, Johnson’s tenure was marked by internal conflicts, with his abrupt resignation in 2019 and subsequent struggles within the front office signaling that the team lacked a coherent direction. The addition of Rob Pelinka as General Manager in 2017 seemed promising, but his tenure has been marred by questionable decisions, including trades that have disrupted team chemistry and failed to yield sustainable results.
Jeanie Buss’s decision to retain these executives for long periods of time despite subpar performances raises questions about the franchise’s ability to build a truly cohesive vision. With multiple voices trying to steer the ship in different directions, it’s difficult to see a consistent plan emerge, and this organizational instability has translated into erratic on-court results.
The 2020 Championship: A Shining Moment Amidst the Chaos
The 2020 NBA championship remains a rare and bright moment in the otherwise turbulent era of Jeanie Buss’s ownership. The bubble championship, won in a year marked by the global pandemic, was a testament to the power of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Frank Vogel’s coaching. In many ways, the 2020 title was an outlier — a shining achievement during a season that lacked the usual structure and atmosphere of a normal NBA campaign. The championship success also relied heavily on LeBron James and Anthony Davis, two superstar players who were able to overcome the unusual circumstances of the bubble and guide the team to success.
However, after this brief moment of glory, the Lakers’ performance quickly fell back into mediocrity. The subsequent years have been marked by injuries, inconsistent play, and missed playoff appearances, despite the team having what should have been a title-contending roster. The championship remains an outlier that highlights the Lakers’ paradox: they are capable of greatness, but they struggle to sustain it.
The Laker Paradox: The More They Change, The More They Stay the Same
So, what explains this paradox? Why do the Lakers, under Jeanie Buss’s ownership, seem to go through a revolving door of players, coaches, and front-office executives, yet the results rarely improve?
It seems that, despite the franchise’s immense financial resources and historical prestige, there is an underlying issue that has plagued the Lakers in recent years: the lack of a clear and consistent direction. Whether it’s the constant roster changes, the instability in the coaching staff, or the frequent front-office shakeups, there is an ongoing absence of stability that prevents the team from developing a coherent identity and a winning culture.
The Lakers, for all their talent and legacy, continue to struggle with balancing short-term championship aspirations with long-term planning. The franchise’s impatience with rebuilding and failure to commit to a long-term vision has left the team in a cycle of mediocrity. In the end, the Lakers’ success has been tied to the whims of superstars like LeBron James, rather than a sustainable system that can carry the team to future championships.
As Jeanie Buss continues to lead the Lakers into the future, the challenge will be finding a balance between change and consistency. Until the franchise can create a more stable, coherent strategy, the paradox of constant change yielding similar results is likely to persist, much to the frustration of the Lakers’ faithful.
