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Jim Buss who has been under a lot of criticism over the past few days, following the Mike Brown hiring spoke with TJ Simers at the LA Times and answered all the questions that Laker fans seem to be asking/screaming.
“I don’t consider myself a recluse or anything like that,” he says. “But this is my dad’s team. I like what we’re doing as a group — my dad, Mitch Kupchak and myself — and especially when we win championships, but I work for my dad and that’s who I like to answer to, and who I like to impress.”
Jim Buss was asked specifically about the criticism of hiring Mike Brown and the people who are blaming the hire on the new “Jim Buss Era”.
“I’m surprised by the reaction to Mike’s hiring,” he says. “I wish people heard him speak. Let him show you what he showed us.”
The Lakers were also criticized for not consulting their franchise player Kobe Bryant, and not notifying him after they decided to go with Mike Brown as the new Lakers head coach.
“Looking back on it, we should have contacted Kobe,” Buss says. “Kobe said it was management’s job to pick a coach. He just said, ‘Defense first.’ That’s what we were doing, but we should have reached out to him.”
Jim reiterated that his dad, Dr. Jerry Buss, runs the Lakers, and that all three (Dr.Buss, Jim, and Mitch Kupchak) discuss everything. He silenced the criticism that Jim Buss now runs the Lakers:
“That’s just not true,” says Jim. “Nothing has changed. My dad, Mitch and I discuss everything. If one person feels strongly for something, they might push. I did that when we picked Andrew. But the other two people in the room agreed.”
It seems, at least for now, that Jim Buss is willing to answer to the critics.
For the entire article from the LA Times click here
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