Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss has been the subject of criticism in recent years, as her team has had plenty of struggles.
She was recently harassed by a fan of LeBron James on social media, and she went back at that individual while pointing out the behavior and comments she doesn’t want to see in her Twitter direct messages.
Here is an example of the harassing messages. As I’ve said on this platform before, everyone is entitled to their opinion so I am not arguing about that. Its just that I don’t want my DM’s to be full of your pretend GM BS trade suggestions that’s all. pic.twitter.com/oaMLmeEUsG
— Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) February 20, 2023
There is a large group of people who are unapologetic James-first fans, and for a few of them, their unbridled passion can cause them to cross the line.
James-first fans and true Lakers fans alike have held Buss accountable for what they have seen as bad or questionable personnel moves that have resulted in the team missing the playoffs seven of the last nine seasons.
Last season in particular was an unmitigated disaster, as they failed to even qualify for the play-in tournament despite the presence of James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
But over the last few weeks, Buss and her general manager Rob Pelinka may have balanced the ledger.
They first traded little-used guard Kendrick Nunn for forward Rui Hachimura, addressing the Lakers’ lack of productive forwards other than James. Then, just before the trade deadline, they sent out Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, Thomas Bryant, Juan Toscano-Anderson and Damian Jones in three deals that brought back D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Malik Beasley, Mo Bamba and multiple second-round draft picks.
The result is a new-look Lakers team that, at least on paper, looks much more balanced and deep, not to mention younger and more athletic.
That new-look team took the floor as a complete unit for the first time on Wednesday, and it looked fairly impressive, as it defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 120-102.
Los Angeles will have its work cut out for it in order to make the playoffs, as it is currently in 13th place in the Western Conference. But at least now it has the tools to do so and perhaps make some noise there as well.
