By Craig Kwasniewski
Today's LA Times interview confirmed what I have been fearing since the summer of '04... Jerry Buss has completely lost it. Maybe it's his age or maybe it's the (cough-cough) 18 year olds that he's dating... all I know is that he has completely lost it and that the Lakers will trade Kobe before All Star break (I'm calling here... mark the tape!).
Anyway, here's a few non-Kobe related quotes from the article with my initial responses. Has Jerry Buss lost it? You be the judge:
Buss acknowledged frustration at losing out to old rivals in Boston for Kevin Garnett's services -- "I personally feel that we made a better offer than the people who were successful," he said -- and also gave a vote of confidence to his often-criticized front office, specifically his son, Jim -- the team's vice president of player personnel -- and General Manager Mitch Kupchak.
"I think Mitch does a terrific job because I'm right there and I know what's happening," Buss said. "Mitch has done everything humanly possible. Our team does not have a lot of tradable players. Hopefully we will have some in time, but currently we do not.
Just one question... WHO FUCKING DRAFTED/ACQUIRED THOSE UNTRADABLE PLAYERS?????????
Buss also defended his son, crediting him for insisting on drafting Ronny Turiaf; casting an important vote in favor of drafting Bynum; and, more recently, bringing sharpshooting undrafted rookie Coby Karl to training camp.
Coby Karl shot 43% in the WAC Conference against below NBADL competition and is slower than erosion. As my buddy Basketbawful said, "Seriously, how often do UNDRAFTED rookies make any impact whatsoever?"
"Jim, I think, is in the same boat as Mitch," Buss said. "I think he is criticized for everything and I'm not so sure what any of us have done [wrong]."
Let's see... he traded away Shaq for salary cap hell and a dead body in Brian Grant, traded All Star forward Carron Butler for Kwame "arrest warrant" Brown, drafted and extended the contracts of Sasha Vujacic and Brian Cook, signed Smush Parker for 2 years... TWO YEARS!! I could go on and on and on... In fact I did, in a post a few months ago.
He said he thought the Lakers would win "50-plus games" if the roster were healthy
Already a built-in excuse for this season's failure... injuries. WELL YOU ACQUIRED INJURY PRONE PLAYERS!!!!
Like I said, Kobe Bryant will be traded by All Star break. This looks like my last year as a Lakers season ticket holder.
A few months ago, I gave Jerry some benefit of the doubt (as you probably remember from our emails). I mean, he's been around foru 8 championships, so he must know what he's doing...right?
Well, I take it all back. No more Devil's Advocate rhetoric from me. The dude's lost it. That or he's just a liar. He gave another interview where he talked about winning 50 games. And from a business perspective, I would guess that winning 50 games and having Kobe Bryant is enough to keep the business strong.
Whatever the case, it's a rough situation for Lakers fans. Fortunately for me, I hate the Lakers. Go Celtics!
(Sorry; I couldn't stop myself.)
Posted by: basketbawful | October 11, 2007 at 02:42 PM
all i know is that everytime coby plays the denver nuggets this coming season , he will make a triple double. that makes mitch kupchak a sometime genius !
Posted by: coach | October 12, 2007 at 03:25 PM