The Los Angeles Lakers have so far been doing fine under the watch of Jeanie Buss and Earvin “Magic” Johnson. They are rebuilding once more, a task previously held by Mitch Kupchak. The former general manager kept a low profile since being axed last February but finally spoke on his separation with the Lakers.
Kupchak along with Jim Buss was relieved back in February 2017, the LA Times reported.
Jeanie Buss made a surprise move, opting to go with Johnson and Rob Pelinka, Kobe Bryant’s former agent. Curiously, all of this went down a week before the NBA trade deadline and caught the 63-year-old by surprise.
No grudge against Jeanie Buss
Kupchak has been in the NBA long enough to know that there is a business side of it. Given the power to come up with a winning ballclub, there is no question that he tried but failed.
It would only be a matter of time before the former NBA player would get the ax, something most expected to happen by the end of the 2016-17 season. But according to him in an interview with ESPN, the decision to relieve him may have been fast-tracked for the Lakers to gain better control of the trade deadline.
Kupchak is aware of the power that Jeanie Buss had. Though caught by surprise, the 63-year-old holds no grudges on the Lakers top brass. Aside from that, he singles out how he stuck with the Lakers for 36 years and got treated well. He started out as the assistant general manager for LA in 1986.
Reason behind firing irrelevant
To date, no official reason has been revealed on why Kupchak was fired. But for Lakers fans, the reason needs no elaboration. The fact is that the team was getting nowhere and the former 13th overall draft pick of the 1976 NBA Draft has been making poor moves.
Among those included the acquisition of Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov. Both failed to produce but owned hefty contracts.
Aside from that, there was also the questionable signing of an aging Steve Nash who perhaps spent more time in sick bay than on the playing court.
Looking at the positives, Kupchak did have achievements such as the last five NBA titles the Lakers won (2000, 2001, 2002, 2009 and 2010). Now under new management, Johnson and Pelinka are left with the inevitable task of trying to rekindle the Lakers’ winning tradition.
They do have a group of young and promising players though more experienced ones may be needed. According to Johnson from the LA Times, the big moves will start in the summer of 2018. Paul George and LeBron James are targeted and hopefully, they blend in with a more matured roster of rising stars next year.