Letters: Lakers and Knicks, Phil and Jeanie, Kobe and Jim

March 21, 2014 4:50 PM PT

How well will Phil Jackson do in New York? Quite well, I’m sure; after all, he has Jim Buss’ cellphone number and a number of castoffs to send west.

Lynn McGinnis

Glendale

How to become a millionaire? Just ask Jim Buss. He managed to turn a billion-dollar enterprise into a million-dollar one.

Sam Austin

Bermuda Dunes

So the owner of the Knicks believes it is worth $60 million to have Phil Jackson watch the team lose for the next five years? Some might say even that amount isn’t enough.

Kevin H. Park

Encino

Phil Jackson chose one incompetent son ruining his father’s franchise over another.

In blackjack that’s called a push.

Gary H. Miller

Encino

Phil Jackson has stated a desire that Carmelo Anthony be retained by the Knicks. Jackson’s return to the NBA has already made the Lakers a better team.

David Hawkins

Anaheim Hills

The Lakers, while privately owned, are also a public trust. Jim Buss is not simply the guy who woke up on third base and thought that he hit a triple, he is the guy who woke up on third base and was told by his dad that he had hit a triple. When the private ownership aspect of a sports franchise takes precedence over the public trust aspect, we get James Dolan, Jerry Jones, and Donald Sterling (who differs only in that until recently he did not care if his team won, as long as it appreciated in value). We have all seen that movie before and we already knows how it ends.

I fear that the Lakers are heading for a championship drought much like the Knicks, and if I were a betting man I would wager that the Knicks, who made the hire that the Lakers should have made, will win a championship before the Lakers.

Marc Bozeman

Beverly Hills

Thanks to Mike Bresnahan for confirming what intelligent longtime Lakers fans and followers already know — that Jeanie and Jim Buss do not know what they are doing as senior management of the organization.

Now add to this gross ineptness that Kobe supports their collective efforts to plan for the future. After all, what is Kobe going to say about them that is ridicule after they gave him his farewell contract to supposedly make up for what Jeanie seems to lament in not providing a farewell tour for Magic?

Lou Soto

Trabuco Canyon

I hate to say this because Jeanie Buss seems like a genuinely nice person, but her saying, “Too much attention is being paid to salary cap and all that kind of stuff” sounds an awful lot like Jamie McCourt saying, “You guys write everything down.”

The game is nothing but cap space, and thats what her dad was a master at.

Jay Douglas

Aliso Viejo

Some needed perspective to help bring balance to the Lakers discussion:

1. Last time Phil Jackson coached in L.A., the Lakers were swept by Dallas in the 2011 playoffs. What’s more, Phil would’ve been hard-pressed to rebuild a team with so little cap space.

2. Criticize your boss all you want, but include his biggest blunder of all: Your inflated contract that sucks up cap space.

3. For all of Jim Buss’ poor decisions, give him credit for attempting the Chris Paul deal. It’s not his fault David Stern nullified it.

4. Boo Dwight Howard all you want, but give him credit for making the right decision.

5. It’s a coach’s responsibility to not only prepare his team, but also to protect his players. You sit your aging star even if he doesn’t want to. (Gregg Popovich, Coaching 101.) Sorry, Gary Vitti, but Kobe’s Achilles’ tear was avoidable.

Ron Ovadia

Irvine

During a close loss to Chicago this season, the Lakers were led in scoring by Manny Harris, a free agent who had signed a couple of 10-day contracts. I was shocked when I heard this would be Harris’ last game with the Lakers. The next night the Lakers were able to dress only eight players because Steve Nash came down with an injury. Then I realized who is in charge of basketball operations for the Lakers: Jim Buss.

Myron Kamisher

Los Angeles

To all of the Lakers fans who have been calling for the team to trade, dump, or rid themselves of Kobe and his “selfish play” over the years, I just wanted to check in and see how you are all enjoying the new era of “team ball” that has been on display this year.

Chris Hibler

San Juan Capistrano

Kudos to the Knicks for landing Phil Jackson, and to owner James Dolan for hiring someone smarter than himself regarding basketball operations. Once again ego has ruined an L.A. sports team. I painfully watched Jim Buss hire a buddy to direct L.A. Lazers marketing and together run that soccer team into the ground; now he’s at it again with our beloved Lakers, hiring a coach he can control rather than the right guy.

Lakers fans, our only hope is to find a lamp, rub it, and have a Jeanie grant our wishes.

David Rosenblatt

Encino

Seeing that jersey No. 24 has been retired by the New York Knicks, will Kobe return to No. 8 after his wholly predictable trade demand is met?

Mer Valdez

Long Beach

Whittier

In draw poker, if you have an ace, you can discard four cards and get four new ones. The Lakers should keep their ace (Kobe) and get 11 new players

George Sagadencky

Tarzana

TV and the Dodgers

First, professional sports teams skyrocket ticket and concession prices so only corporate executives and their families can afford to go to games. Next, they sign billion-dollar deals to have their own channel. Who do you think eventually pays for this? We do, in increased cable and satellite subscription prices and in increased prices for products and services offered by companies that advertise on their new network. And, very soon viewers will be paying for each game they want to see just like on-demand videos now charge. We soon will only be able to watch a game on our TVs for $10 per game or more. The greed in the world, especially in sports, never ends. I’m a longtime sports fan and Dodgers fan. I’m losing interest in both by the day. Time to watch golf.

Doug Keith

Tustin Ranch

Someone should remind Dodgers fans that for quite a few years after the team moved here they televised only those games played in San Francisco. If you wanted to follow the Dodgers, and a lot of people did, you listened to the radio, where Vin Scully made you feel as if you were at the park. We managed to survive. There was also one other major difference at that time: The average fan actually could afford to go to a game.

Bart Robertson

Torrance

Your gratuitous use of the “Mc” word is inexplicable and unforgivable. Just because the nefarious louse moved his head up and down after world-class scout Logan White knocked some sense into him, you have the temerity to put his name in the headlines You deign to give him credit?? No doubt he thought “Pederson & Lee” was the name of another $800/hour law firm he was hiring to fight his divorce instead of top baseball prospects.

I beg of you, spare us of any further use of the “Mc” word. It’s repugnant, and an offense to Dodgers fans everywhere.

Brian Gadinsky

Los Angeles

Thank you for Tuesday’s headline with the word “McCourt” in it.

I just got a new puppy and this article proved excellent for use in his house training.

Jennifer Davis

Los Angeles

The Dodgers left Arizona in winter and arrived in Australia in summer. They’ll leave Australia in fall and come back to Dodger Stadium in the spring. They truly are a team for all seasons.

Rick Henderson

Covina

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