The Los Angeles Lakers are in a shark tank from which they never escape.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Wednesday that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks the Lakers dynasty died with owner Jerry Buss and may never be an elite NBA franchise again.
"Jerry Buss was the Lakers, so I don't know if the Lakers will ever be the Lakers,'' Cuban said prior to the Mavs' 94-89 win over Boston on Monday, as reported by the Star-Telegram. "I don't think there was a smarter owner in the history of the NBA than Jerry Buss, so that's tough to replace.
"I don't think people realize just how good of an owner Jerry was. I looked up to him a lot. Absolutely. So I don't know if the Lakers will ever be the Lakers.''
Cuban has plenty of evidence on his side. Jim Buss, Jerry's son and team executive vice president who runs the basketball operation with general manager Mitch Kupchak, already has hired and fired coach Mike Brown, hired Mike D'Antoni when Phil Jackson was ready to step in and resume his role as head coach, hired D'Antoni when then-Laker Dwight Howard said he wanted Jackson as his coach and bolted to the Houston Rockets as a free agent last summer, gave aging Steve Nash a three-year contract and has seen him play in just 60 games in two seasons because of injury and gave aging Kobe Bryant a two-year, $48.5 million contract even though he played only six games during the 2013-14 season.
Cuban, however, points to the greatness of Jerry Buss, rather than to the mess in which the Lakers have mired since his death.
"He just understood fans, entertainment, players, how to balance all of it together, how to deal with the NBA, when to listen to (ex-NBA commissioner) David (Stern) and when to ignore him and when to tell him what to do,'' Cuban said."He had that breath of skills that every time I spoke to him -- usually I'm used to doing to the talking, just force of habit.
"But he's one of the few people that when we sat down I did all the listening. So I don't think there's any question he's by far the best owner in the history of the NBA. No exception.''
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