How much did the Los Angeles Lakers mean to Dr. Jerry Buss? Ask his daughter and the President of the Lakers, Jeanie Buss, and she will tell you, “I like to say my dad had his children, but the Lakers were his babies.” Dr. Buss was not born in LA, but eventually, it became his home. And what struck him was that the West Coast was not really happening in the NBA landscape. Rather, most of the media attention was centered around New York, Philadelphia, and Boston. “He wanted to give his home a team they could be proud of, that would rival the Boston Celtics in terms of championships. And here we are: 40 years later, we’re tied with the Celtics in titles,” Jeanie had said in 2022. But if highs are that high, lows are also that low.

The legacy that Dr. Buss built set the expectations of the fans to such a high standard that they were never ready to settle for less. And since Jeanie took over from her father, she has seen the worst end of this fan expectation. Take the 2022 season, for instance. The Lakers had a disastrous 2-10 start to the season, and things went as bad as Jeanie getting death threats. “I was like, ‘I’m not gonna survive this,’” she had told The Athletic. Evidently, the Laker nation desperately wanted to bring back their 2020 championship glory days, and Jeanie was more than supportive of that.

“From the fans perspective, they don’t like to be patient,” Jeanie had said via the LA Times in 2023. “Fans want to see the continuity/growth. Laker fans have been spoiled as they should be, but it’s been a long time since we’ve hoisted an NBA Finals in our arena, so we want to get back there.” But while she is accommodating when it comes to the fan sentiments, even accepting criticism, there is one thing that does not sit well with her.

In an episode of Games with Names that premiered on March 12, Jeanie made it clear that she doesn’t like fans constantly telling her what to do. “I think the part that kind of makes me crazy is when fans tell me what the coach needs to do, what players to trade for,” she said. To her, questioning decisions is fair game, but acting like an armchair GM? That crosses a line.

“It’s kind of like, ‘Wait, why are you telling me this? Because, I mean, you could not like the coach or you can not like a move that was made, but like, by you telling me how to correct it, you’re insulting the people that work for me.’ I’m going to be kind of defensive about that,” Jeanie Buss further emphasized. It’s the passion for the game that sometimes makes people forget the boundaries. But Buss wasn’t just venting. She was setting the record straight. While doing so, she also shed light on one of the biggest Lakers moves in recent history—the trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Mavericks in exchange for Luka Doncic, something that blindsided the Lakers’ passionate fanbase.

Interestingly, Jeanie admitted that it was her father’s ideology that influenced her decision. Dr. Buss always believed that a fair deal had to work for both sides. “It’s about, if a deal isn’t good for both sides, then it’s not a good deal,” Jeanie shared. “A one-sided deal is eventually going to either fall apart or come back and haunt you. It’s just not the way to do business. My dad was a very fair man and didn’t take advantage of people, and that’s what I carry in that tradition.” So, when the Mavericks approached the Lakers about Anthony Davis, that philosophy came into play.

There had been rumblings of frustration between Davis and the Lakers for a while. AD and LeBron James had been pushing the front office to make more moves before the trade deadline. When those moves didn’t happen, tensions started to build. Team sources even claimed that their public complaints rubbed some within the Lakers’ leadership the wrong way. There was also a growing belief that while Davis was a dominant player, he might not be the long-term leader the Lakers needed.

His durability was always a concern, and internally, there were doubts about whether he could truly be a franchise cornerstone once LeBron eventually stepped away. So, when Dallas made their move, it wasn’t just about making a deal. It was about shifting the future of the franchise.

“We were not looking to trade Anthony Davis.” But Dallas made an offer the Lakers couldn’t ignore. “Dallas contacted us, and he’d been making it clear that he wasn’t happy, that he was having to play the five. He wanted to play the four, so it sounded like he was unhappy,” she said. And that was when Buss leaned into her father’s philosophy. “I mean, it was a deal that both sides wanted to make,” she added. As shocking as it might sound, once Dončić suited up, it didn’t take long to see why the front office made the move.

Top Comment by Dongskie

That was a no brainer, only a fool would reject such an offer from Mavericks, end of story.

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Did Jeanie Buss just get the Lakers’ new face after the LeBron James era?

Even coming off an injury, the Slovenian star hit the ground running, dropping 44 points in his first three games with the team. Then, against the Denver Nuggets, he exploded for 32 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists in a blowout win. And Luka isn’t just here to put up numbers—he’s here to win.

“I think we still got a lot of improvement,” he said. “This is my fourth game. Chemistry takes time. We saw today that it’s getting better. So, every day it’s going to get better.” His chemistry with LeBron James is already making waves, and it’s clear that JJ Redick is fully leaning into Dončić as the team’s primary playmaker. Redick made it known from the start that Luka would have the ball in his hands. And LeBron? He’s all for it.

“I’m a natural-born wide receiver, and he’s a natural-born quarterback, so it fits perfectly,” James said after their first alley-oop connection. “I’ve been running the floor and running lanes pretty much my whole life, and he’s been throwing great passes pretty much his whole life, so it’s not hard to get a rhythm when it comes to that. It’s all about eye contact and him being a great quarterback like he is and me being the recipient of it.”

At 40 years old, LeBron knows the torch will eventually be passed. And while he’s still in the mix for another championship, Dončić is already proving that he’s ready to carry the weight of the Lakers’ future. For now, though, it’s all about chasing the ultimate goal.

“Our goal is to win the championship,” Dončić said. “That’s our only goal, and I think we have the team for that.” If the Lakers can pull it off, the blockbuster trade won’t just be remembered as a shocker—it’ll be remembered as the move that changed everything.