Lakers News: Latest Updates on Steve Nash, Jeanie Buss and More
The Los Angeles Lakers opened up their season on Tuesday against the Houston Rockets, but there are plenty of developments taking place off the court for the purple and gold.
The potential roster fallout from the Steve Nash injury is still hovering, team president Jeanie Buss made some interesting comments and former player (and not exactly fan favorite) Dwight Howard responded to some of the latest Kobe Bryant rumors.
With that in mind, here is a look at some recent news from Los Angeles.
Steve Nash Fallout
Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders provided an update on the Lakers’ plans after Nash was declared out for the season:
Assuming Los Angeles does go the disabled player exception route, it would be worth nearly $4.85 million, or half of Nash’s $9.701 million salary for the season.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether the Lakers would use that exception to go out and immediately sign a player or stash it in their back pocket. It’s not as if there are a ton of impact free agents Los Angeles could get right now, so the argument can be made that the Lakers would be better off holding onto it.
If nothing else, the exception could be used for salary purposes in a trade. Considering the Lakers are realistically looking toward the future this season, this could be the way they go in this situation.
Jeanie Buss Comments
Jeanie Buss had some interesting comments on the front office and its daily operations, via Sam Amick of USA Today:
"I think it is trying to find how we're going to operate together. I believe that Phil was a source of conflict between me and my brother and Mitch, I guess, as well. And now that Phil, as of six months ago, is now off the market and has a job — isn't in the wings — that source of conflict is removed. And I think that the way we operate is becoming more clear.
"
This highlights a rather intriguing dynamic in the front office and gives fans a rare glimpse behind the curtain. This historically excellent franchise has certainly taken a step back in the past couple of years, so anything that makes the way of operation clearer is probably a good thing moving forward.
It is going to take some personnel moves in the upcoming year or two to make the Lakers a contender again in the loaded Western Conference, but these comments are encouraging. A front office working in unison is always important, but it seems increasingly imperative with an NBA cornerstone franchise trying to rebuild on the fly.
Ironically, Phil Jackson finds himself in the same type of rebuilding situation with a historical franchise in the New York Knicks.
Dwight Howard Comments
Howard discussed his time in Los Angeles and why he ultimately left, via Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:
"I didn’t leave LA because I was afraid of Kobe Bryant. I went to a good situation for myself. I can’t change people’s opinions, but I did what I had to do for myself.
People have different reasons for why they go play for different teams. It’s over with now. There’s no need to continue to talk about it. It happened. We played together for a year. The whole team was injured, didn’t really get an opportunity to do what we all set out to do. Things happen. Life happens. I think everybody needs to move forward from the situation and worry about their respective teams.
"
These comments were undoubtedly a response to a report from Henry Abbott of ESPN The Magazine that implied some free agents did not want to play with the Lakers as long as Bryant was such a central figure.
There is almost a general assumption that Howard and Bryant did not click during the big man’s brief tenure in Los Angles, especially since the team fell so short of its goals that year, so these are interesting comments to say the least. What's more, Bryant and Howard got into a verbal spat during Tuesday night's opener, and there didn't appear to be any love lost on either side.
Howard seemed ready to put the entire situation behind him in these comments, and Bryant would likely be perfectly fine with that. Howard is certainly in a better spot in Houston, and the Lakers hope to be competitive again sooner rather than later.
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