The Los Angeles Lakers are not a team that we have seen at the bottom of the standings very often. One of the historically great franchises in the NBA, the Lakers have a long history of putting championship banners in the rafters of their stadium. They did so very recently by winning the 2020 NBA Championship, but have had 2 very disappointing seasons since.
Injuries and roster turmoil have caused the Lakers to miss the playoffs last season and be eliminated in the first round in 2021. Despite that, the Lakers are not the kind of team to abandon their competitive core and trade them in for future assets and rebuild. As long as the Lakers have been around under the ownership of the Buss family, they’ve pushed for contention.
Jeanie Buss revealed that she never plans on intentionally tanking, as it is something her father never did and intrinsically goes against the Lakers’ philosophy.
“My father never [tanked] in 32 years”
Jeanie Buss breaks down why she'll always try to put the Lakers in a position to succeed #LakeShow@JeanieBuss | @JumpShot8 | @DarthAmin pic.twitter.com/sISzrwIuM6
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) August 30, 2022
“It’s hard to win in the NBA… Nobody has the exact formula, but I know you can’t win a championship if you’re not in the playoffs. I think you can provide enough resources to make sure you have a competitive team year in and year out. Some people may debate the idea of tanking for several years. My dad never did that in 32 years, so it is just not the way he would have seen the Lakers brand to be at the bottom of the standings, year after year. He always felt that the fans invested their time and money into the team. You have to perform for them or else they will move on and find something else to invest their time and money in. They deserve to have a quality product. Nobody can promise a championship every year, but if you’re not in the playoffs, you don’t have a chance to win. So, I like the team being in a position to compete for championships year in and year out.”
Buss motivated to be competitive always is great news for the fans of the franchise. This may also indicate that the Lakers will be willing to part with their future first-round picks to better the roster in the short term and push for a title this season.
Los Angeles is one of the most attractive markets in all of basketball, with the Lakers being one of the marquee franchises in the world of sports. They can attract free agents like no other place can, so the Lakers’ formula will be to always have their cap space occupied by a top star that is capable of taking them to the championship level. After all, that’s what they did when they signed LeBron in 2018.
