Jeanie Buss Comments on Brother Jim's Role in Lakers' Rebuilding Effort

If the Los Angeles Lakers don't turn their fortunes around inside three years, then heads will roll in the front office. More specifically, Jim Buss, part-owner and president of basketball operations, may be out of a job.

In an interview with KPCC in Pasadena, California, (via ESPN.com's Baxter Holmes), Lakers team president Jeanie Buss said her brother will walk away from the organization if he can't get Los Angeles' rebuilding plan on track:

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This is my job. I'm part-owner of the team, but I'm also the president. The Buss family is the majority owner but we have other partners as well who are also shareholders, and I have an obligation to them. Would I make those changes? Yes. My brother understands that we have to continue to strive for greatness and I think he would be the first one to feel that he would need to step down if he can't get us to that point.

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Jeanie Buss' comments aren't exactly a bombshell. She was simply echoing Jim's sentiments from April 2014, per Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times:

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I was laying myself on the line by saying, if this doesn't work in three to four years, if we're not back on the top—and the definition of top means contending for the Western Conference, contending for a championship—then I will step down because that means I have failed. I don't know if you can fire yourself if you own the team … but what I would say is I'd walk away and you guys figure out who's going to run basketball operations because I obviously couldn't do the job.

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The Lakers are coming off of their worst season in team history, even dating back to the days of the Minneapolis Lakers. Even a franchise as storied as Los Angeles would need some time to turn around a team that finished 21-61.

ESPN.com's Arash Markazi noted that Buss' three-year deadline began in 2014-15, so he'll need to hope the process moves expediently:

What Jeanie Buss' comments serve to do is place even more pressure on Jim after questions about his stewardship of the organization have come to light over the past year and change.

Magic Johnson went on ESPN's First Take last February and criticized Jim Buss' handling of the Lakers.

"Jim is trying to do it himself and trying to prove to everybody that this was the right decision that [his] dad gave [him] the reins," he said (via Holmes). "He's not consulting anybody that can help him achieve his goals and dreams to win an NBA championship."

Johnson then went on to say that Buss should allow general manager Mitch Kupchak to have more authority on personnel matters. He made similar statements in January 2014 as well.

Magic wasn't the only Lakers legend to call out Buss, either.

In March 2014, as he announced he was shutting down for the rest of the season, Kobe Bryant essentially called out Buss when discussing some of the team's issues, per CBS Sports' Ken Berger:

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You've got to start with Jim. You've got to start with Jim and Jeanie and how that relationship plays out. It starts there and having a clear direction and clear authority. And then it goes down to the coaching staff and what Mike is going to do -- what they're going to do with Mike -- and it goes from there. It's got to start at the top.

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In Jordan Clarkson, Julius Randle and D'Angelo Russell, the Lakers look to have a young core that could spur the kind of organic growth that is somewhat unfamiliar to the franchise. Los Angeles is simply used to poaching the biggest and best free agents or trade chips in order to remain competitive.

Whether Clarkson, Randle and Russell put it together in the next few years may determine Jim Buss' fate in the organization.