Longtime NBA exec knew Lakers would collapse after passing of Jerry Buss, management change

The Lakers went on a six-year playoff drought after team owner Jerry Buss passed away in 2013. Jeanie Buss took over the team from her late father. In 2017 the Purple and Gold fired general manager Mitch Kupchak.

Even when LeBron James was lured to Los Angeles in 2018, the Lakers still missed the playoffs. Only in 2019-2020 with the addition of Anthony Davis the team was able to win a championship inside the Orlando bubble.

Since then the Lakers made the playoffs once after having to go through the play-in tournament. It was a short postseason for Los Angeles as the team lost in the first round against the Suns.

Last season was a total disaster as the Lakers failed to even make the play-in tournament. This year does not look good either. Ten games into the regular season, Los Angeles is 2-8 which puts them at the bottom of the Western Conference.

According to an anonymous longtime NBA executive, that was to be expected. Personally he thought the Lakers fall, just as it has happened and continues to happen.

Via Steve Bulpett of Heavy:

For example, one league executive was in “I told you so” mode in his latest conversation with Heavy Sports.

“My point always was that these guys had no f***ing clue. I said, when the old man dies and Jerry West leaves and a real professional like Mitch Kupchak leaves the Lakers, that you’re gonna see the fastest freefall of a legacy franchise you’ve ever seen,” the longtime exec said. “That’s exactly what happened. So they managed to pull LeBron in and got involved with him and Klutch, and he came in and got them a championship in the bubble. That’s it. After that, there’s no more championships.

“Look where they are now and tell me when the hell they’re going to have a chance to compete for a championship again.”