Lakers 2.0

I just finished reading an ESPN.com article written by Baxter Holmes titled Lakers 2.0: The Failed Reboot of the NBA's Crown Jewel. What's happened is despite having LeBron James, arguably the league's best player on the team and Magic Johnson who is arguably the most famous Los Angeles Laker in history occupying a Front Office position, the Lakers failed miserably the last two seasons as an organization. They faced a record $500,000 tampering fine, missed the playoffs, made ill-advised player acquisitions, then ended their season with several key players including LeBron James out due to injuries, Head Coach Luke Walton being fired and Magic Johnson himself stepping down. However, the story and my purpose for writing isn't about that; it's to expound on several of my key takeaways from the article and call attention to a larger issue going on in select workplaces today.

Baxter Holmes notes where Lakers Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope served a 25-day jail sentence for violating the terms of his probation from a DUI charge. He was allowed to attend practices and play in 9 games during that span, starting in all of them. He also cites where a longtime staff member of the Lakers made a mistake involving a draft prospect and car service arrangements. Magic is said to have berated the woman and threatened to fire her, to the point where she later developed medical issues and after more than 2 decades, quit her job with the team. Holmes also mentioned the setting up of two "WAR" rooms in the Lakers facility where key personnel sat during a recent NBA Draft - one with Magic & Rob and one with scouts and personnel. Instead of selecting Villanova's Omari Spellman as the scouts expected, Magic and Pelinka drafted Michigan's Moritz Wagner, which shocked and upset team scouts and personnel. Things did not get any better when Pelinka later told them and other staffers he heard negative things about Spellman and even behind their backs, briefly consulted former Villanova star and Lakers Guard Josh Hart, who according to Pelinka agreed with thoughts on Spellman, implying "fitness concerns."

My main takeaways after reading the article, were that you must be very careful with celebrity bosses or people who come before you with fame and notoriety, to be your superior. While entertaining and glamorous they can also be self-serving and domineering, worse when they have no leadership or managerial experience. They also tend to have more than one business venture going on, so their livelihoods are not as dependent on the job as others of us; they really don't need the work. Another thing - too many workplaces today lack management fundamentals, including accountability and responsibility, and as Baxter Holmes showed this situation is no different. I say to those managers: the mess has to go, or you'll also experience Lakers 2.0.

You can find the original article in its entirety written by Baxter Holmes here: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26821790/lakers-20-failed-reboot-nba-crown-jewel

Thank you for reading!