Transcription
Alright man, peace. You know, brothers, there's a saying that the truth could not be hidden for very long. If you're patient enough, everything that you're trying to ascertain will reveal itself to you in time. And it's very obvious to me right now, even though it was not quite clear to me at first, that the person who truly is utilizing many machinations to place himself in a position of control when it comes to the LA Lakers, it certainly is Mr. Kobe "Bean" Bryant.
I always had suspicions that he was the one behind the scenes pulling the strings, but it's all starting to make more and more sense now how Kobe is very subtly and very surreptitiously trying to position himself to eventually take over ownership of the LA Lakers somewhere in the near future, probably within the next five to ten years.
I thought originally that it would be Magic Johnson who was trying to gain control of the Lakers, and that's why he was trying to mosey on next to Jeanie Buss. And I think that in the recesses of Magic Johnson's mind, he was thinking the same thing. He thought that Jeanie Buss was an easy mark. And when he read those emails that were being exchanged between Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka, he realized that they had no respect for his intellect. That's why he decided to blow the whole thing up and make Jeanie Buss look bad by firing himself in front of the basketball world and the mainstream liberal sports media.
Now, in the aftermath of Magic Johnson's kamikaze maneuver, this is many things far more clear to me. Kobe Bryant is the person who has the most to gain in the aftermath of Magic Johnson being removed out of the way, because now he's free to manipulate Jeanie Buss through Rob Pelinka and also directly. The only influential person who's involved with the organization that he has to remove right now is Mr. Phil Jackson. Phil Jackson is utilizing Linda and Kurt Rambis in the same way that Kobe Bryant is utilizing Rob Pelinka. So once he can get the Rambises out the way, and he can convince Jeanie that it is in her best interest to sell him the team, then he'll have everything that he's always wanted.
And it explains why back in the early 2010s, Kobe Bryant was using Stephen A. Smith as a mouthpiece to voice his hatred of Jim Buss over the national airwaves. There was a period of time that I would say from about 2013 to 2016 where Stephen A. Smith would get "First Take" and he would speak about Jim Buss like Jim Buss had pissed in his lemonade. Like it was unbelievable some of the things that Stephen A. Smith was saying about Jim Buss on the national airwaves. And it was very obvious to me that it was coming from Kobe Bryant. And now that Jim Buss has been removed out of the way, all Kobe has to do is convince Jeanie Buss that it's in her best interest to eventually sell him the team, maybe seven or eight years from now, once Kobe had become a billionaire from some of his enterprises in the cinematic world. But in the meantime, what Kobe is going to allow is, he's going to allow Linda Rambis and Jeanie Buss to make complete and utter fools of themselves as the public ownership while he's in the back pulling the strings.
So anyway, they're gonna talk about it and I'm gonna chime in. District Appear 17 brought to you by Chase. Magic Johnson tells TMZ that he's still talking to Lakers every day. It's like he never left. Of course, because he's doing the same thing that he was doing while he was in an official capacity with them, just talking [expletive] and giving his vain opinion. Los Angeles Times, Jeanie Buss has no plans to hire a replacement for Magic. Mac, because he was never doing [expletive] in the first place. What's the point of, what's the point of hiring a replacement for Magic Johnson when he was never doing anything in the first place? Jeanie Buss has no idea what she's doing. So she does not even know what a president of a basketball team or a chief executive officer who had those basketball operations is supposed to do. She has no idea. But the media is going easy on her because she's a woman. For now. It doesn't really matter. It doesn't really matter at the end of the day. They have their number one fan, Kobe Bryant. I think as the shadow owner of the team, everyone's going to say that Linda Rambis is the shadow owner. She's really not. She's an advisor to Jeanie Buss. And Linda Rambis is getting most of her information and her perspectives from Kurt Rambis and Phil Jackson. They're better off without them. People forget that when Phil Jackson was the general manager of the New York Knicks, he wanted Kurt Rambis to be the advisor of whoever the head coach of the New York Knicks was, whether it was Jeff Hornacek or Derek Fisher. So there's a relationship there between Kurt Rambis and Phil Jackson that is very close. Any kind of help you can give on the side is great. As an ambassador, what's the cause of the way he quit? There's no going back now. They gotta get rid of Pelinka. Pelinka has not shown that he's good at the job. He's not an experienced executive. He's a seller, not a buyer. It's gonna be very difficult for them to remove themselves from Rob Pelinka, especially due to how close a kinship he has with Kobe Bryant. And once again, Jeanie Buss is taking a lot of advice from Kobe Bryant behind his scenes. It's very obvious he wields a lot of power. We agree. And I give Kellerman credit. He spotted the Kobe Bryant, Rob Pelinka, Jeanie Buss, remember for very long time now. The fact that Pelinka was identified essentially by Magic, that or you could infer from what Magic was saying who's talking about Pelinka, that Magic couldn't get Pelinka moved. And why would that be? What power is holding Pelinka in place? It seems to me Kobe still wielding a lot of power. Bing. It's a very interesting kind of soap opera. There's a lot of drama here. But I think you got to get rid of Pelinka and you got to get a guy in place immediately because building the team, have to have someone calling the shots who knows. Well, here's the issue with that, Max Kellerman. It's very obvious that Jeanie Buss, many other pundits on television have noted, has no idea what she's doing. It's just that they say in a very nice way. They say Jeanie Buss thinks that she's running a family business like she's running a mom-and-pop store. Well, she does believe that because that's the level at which her brain works. I don't care how many years of school she went to. She still abused the Lakers with a certain amount of emotion. She does not know what she's doing. She's not a real business owner when it comes to the LA Lakers. So she would not have the foggiest idea of who to hire. And then beyond that, because all the other franchises in the NBA do not want to help the Lakers, they're very reticent to give her any form of advice. So she has to turn to the very few people that she feels like she can trust, starting with Linda Rambis, her homegirl. So the Lakers, they're really all [expletive] up right now. What they're doing and knows how to get things done. By the way, someone may be who the whole league doesn't hate, like that would be a good idea. But Steven A., the way Magic could quit right now with no team president in place, with Pelinka as the GM, it's a clown show. Let's be honest. That's why all these friends, but this LeBron's presence, all the circus has come to town because LeBron, well, LeBron has only wanted two clowns in a climate show. Let's not leave him out of it. You had another superstar to LeBron, you're a title contender like that, even LeBron at this age, no. Right now, the league is looking the Lakers like it's a clown show over there. And the Clippers seem like the franchise that looks attractive because they're being run well. So the way Magic quit, they're better off without him. I hate to say it. I love Magic Johnson. Well, Magic Johnson understands that he needed to get the hell up out of Dodge because he did not want to face the blame for how bad that team was going to do in his view over the next few years. Because Magic Johnson knows that none of these other general managers want to work with Rob Pelinka. And on top of that, Magic Johnson was incompetent in his role. So it's just, it's just clowns all around. The term clown show is very pertinent here. Disagree. Oh, I don't feel like the Lakers are better off without Magic. But I have a different opinion on a different issue. So it's not necessarily disagreeing directly with you. Imagine if I, well, Max, here's what I'm trying to say. Magic Johnson, the Lakers are not better off without him because the reason you lost it is because essentially the link is still there. Now, no, not true. The reason why the Lakers lost Magic Johnson is because Jeanie Buss happened to agree with Rob Pelinka that Magic Johnson was incompetent. Magic Johnson saw the email chain that they were exchanging between one another and he said, I better get the hell up out of here because they're gonna end up firing me anyway. Now, Jeanie Buss, Arafah, Pelinka, and everybody else can deny it, but anybody that's covering the Lakers will tell you, we have all heard that Magic Johnson wanted both Luke Walton and Pelinka gone. Clearly, Jeanie did not have a problem with Luke Walton leaving, so that wasn't the issue. The issue was Pelinka. Now, you can bring up the attachment to Kobe, you can bring up the relationship that Pelinka cultivated with Jeanie, you can bring up the relationship that Pelinka has with Linda Rambis, Jeanie's good friend, next-door neighbor, now, de facto, an executive for the Lakers, whatever you want to call her. I don't know what the hell she is right now. I respect, I'm not trying to disrespect her by saying that, I'm just saying I don't know her role. If you don't know her role, then that means that it's your job as a reporter to find it out. Steve Naismith, here's what it comes down to. People believe that Linda Rambis is the biggest influence in Jeanie Buss's air. Whether she's the biggest influence on camera, that they know of. Kobe Bryant has enough intermediaries between himself and Jeanie Buss to be the biggest influence and no one know about it. Therefore, he does not have to face the quote-unquote shrapnel of criticism, as you will put it. Steve Naismith, for the Lakers' downturn after tonight, I have no clue. But that's what people believe. And clearly, people believe that Magic Johnson wanted to get rid of Rob Pelinka and was denied the opportunity to do so, which is why he walked out the door. So when we ask the question as to whether or not the Lakers are better off without Magic, my answer would be no. Because if you were willing to get rid of Pelinka, then Magic would likely still be there. A new GM would be in play, somebody more experienced on being paid a buyer, Max, as opposed to a seller, whatever way, whatever analogy that you wanted to use about the liquor, a more experienced and in terms of cat issues, you know, being a gym, knowing how to work the phones, being able to pick up the phone and actually get an agent and receiving people willing to receive your phone calls, which was a challenge for Pelinka from what I was being told. These are the kind of things that Magic anticipated overseeing. Remember, he inherited Pelinka. He didn't break the link on board. Jeanie Buss and the Lakers told them to leave because you're right here, God has your GM, just like Walton is your coach. Magic wanted Oh Jean, and that was denied. So if Magic had had his own team or was able to formulate his own team, he would not have had to leave, which is why I don't say the Lakers are better off without him. They would have been better off with him had they listened to him in terms of wanting somebody other than the people they have. The done idea. I agree with that. Can you imagine though, when I say clown show, what a clown show the Lakers are right now. So let me get this straight. And Magic Johnson was one of those clowns. At the end of the day, he was not willing to put in the grunt work to make that team a better team. He's better off as an ambassador than someone who's acting as a GM, someone who has to scout, so on and so forth. That's not what Magic does. He's a recruiter. And once again, I believe that Rob Pelinka was in close contact with Kobe Bryant. And Kobe let Rob Pelinka know, look, your job is to rebuild the team by any means necessary. And if Magic Johnson is not putting in his brick, then we have to get rid of him too. Well, that's the problem. That's who'll be rooting for anybody. These guys get on TV and talk about how they're rooting for Jeanie Buss. They'll never talk about a male owner like that. If you're going to treat the woman equal, that means that she has to be subjected to the same level of criticism as male owners, or things are not going to get better. It's like, no wonder this franchise has all these championships and the Knicks don't. Look at the kind of people that are running this place. You like up and you root for them. But right now, Steven A., imagine this for a second. Imagine Pelinka chooses the new coach because they're gonna need another coach, right? Pelinka has it. And then he's gonna have to get one out there because he's no good eventually. Again, it's potentially worse than that. It's potentially worse than that, Max. What if Linda Rambis is the one making that call? I'm not saying that's that's the reality of. Well, if you don't know if that's the reality, how about you get on the phone and ascertain exactly what her role is, Steven Naismith? Before you postulate all these hypotheticals on the national airwaves, how about you do that, sir? I'm saying that's the perception. Let's be very clear. [Expletive] the perception. You're a reporter and get the facts. We also, because we both got a lot of affection for Jeanie Buss, but it's important that we remember this. She did not do well for herself this year. She called out the media where she was being interviewed at the Sports Institute. You know, you got voices in LA like the great Bill Plaschke, the LA Times, Brad Stevens, an outstanding reporter, you know, my buddy for the Los Angeles Times as well, or like the Jim Hills of the world and others. People were incredibly offended by the position that she took because it came across as not only disingenuous, not only inaccurate, but grotesquely unfair to individuals in the local media who spent the last five years giving up an incredible pass. And so she's one wall, Steven Naismith. That's what happens when you try to give someone a pass because of their gender. And that's what all those Simpson LA were doing. They were giving Jeanie Buss a pass. And eventually, the person that you give a pass to, an undo pass, is going to come back and bite you on the ass. That's why she decided to quote-unquote blame the media because she was totally out of the loop when it comes to what was actually going on in her organization. And when she attempted to execute some type of inquiry or investigation, it turned up with nothing, either because nothing was actually occurring or because she's not intelligent enough to get to the bottom of things. So she turned on the media. And the media said to themselves, who is this [expletive] to turn on? That's what we treated her with nothing but kid gloves over the last five years, even though Stevie Wonder could see that she don't know what the [expletive] she's doing. Now she's talking about fake news. But you know, if your words of verbiage, it's imitating and echoing people that we don't feel like bringing up on this show on this particular day. These are the kind of things that have been coming out of their mouths religiously over the last several months. And Jeanie Buss's star has descended to some degree of monks local media because they feel like she's, based on figuratively speaking, spitting in their face by not being appreciative of the pass that they've given her for the last five to six years. So she, and they deserve to have their face spat in because they never should have given her a pass in the first place. Why does she deserve a pass for her brother never got one, right? Now, really quickly, guys, Magic said something else fascinating to TMZ. He said he was confident, really comes in certain that LeBron will bring a championship to the Lakers. Are you guys sharing that confidence? Okay, no. Magic Johnson is confident in every damn thing. So who cares? Really. Well, what he's saying about the Lakers, Magic Johnson was confident that he was gonna beat AIDS, and it happened. Gotta be quicker. Stephen A., Max, are you certain LeBron brings a championship to LA? No. The answer is no. LeBron is most likely not going to bring a championship to the Lakers. I'm worried because I'm not sure that the Lakers are going to get that next star. But I believe the Clippers are. And Max, I got some news for you. I'm starting to believe. I'm starting to believe that the Clippers have a legitimate shot of better than 50% shot. And both Kawhi and Kevin Durant. Well, let me say this, Stephen A. Smith, if the Toronto Raptors cannot get to the NBA Finals, they can forget about re-signing Kawhi Leonard. They can forget about that. They better get to the NBA Finals and that series better go seven games. That they're going to lose it to the Warriors or whoever comes out of the West. They better get to a seventh game. And no family even think about staying. In my view, now, if you were to ask me what Kawhi Leonard should do, I think that most of these guys just stay with that. I think Kyrie should stay in Boston. I think Kevin Durant stay in Golden State. I think that Kawhi should stay in Toronto. But some of these guys are just going to move for the sake of moving. But once again, just getting back to Toronto, if they hope to re-sign Kawhi Leonard, they better have a very long playoff run. If they go out to Phil in the second round, they can forget it. I'm starting to believe that. Yeah, I also think that there's a good possibility that that can happen. Let me say this. Well, I'm under 50/50 that the Lakers will win a championship. I think they have a damn good shot. Let's say a 30 or 40% chance. But let me tell you how I, that's a bit high for a team that did not even make the playoffs this year. I will say the Lakers have about a 5% chance. I'm willing to championship and the next three years with LeBron James. How I calculate this ordeal for LeBron. Didn't win it last year. Three years left. Ain't gonna win it this year. Two years left of each 35, 36-year-old LeBron. At which point, let's say they have a D and they have some good pieces around then. Has two years left not just to contend for a championship, but win one. It could happen. But under 50/50. Okay. And I just wanted to, I want to bring the highlighter out. The big yellow highlighter. Steve A., you're telling us from what you're hearing, better than 50% shot, not just Kawhi, but Kawhi and KD to the Clippers. I'm telling you, that's what I'm hearing right now. The Clippers are feeling. When they could tell me what your hand about Linda Rambis, because you've been talking on type of [expletive] over the course of this segment that you have not been able to quantify, substantiate, or prove. Forget all your hypotheticals about Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant, because every two days you have a new team. You just said that you think that KD and Kawhi might go to the Nets. You're talking about the Clippers. I mean, give me a break with all that [expletive]. Very, very good about themselves these days. Remember, I was out in LA last week for a reason. Jeff Jerry West is unbelievable. Alright, Jerry West is a great executive. But you guys are patting him on the back for something that has not even happened yet. It's awesome information. The conversation you get here on "First Take." But don't go anywhere, because guess what? Anyway, that's basically it on that. We'll see what happens for the LA Lakers. I do know this, just the fact that they're pushing this girl power to the forefront, it's a setup for Kobe Bryant on the back end, seven or eight years from now, to swoop in and be the savior should he be able to purchase the franchise. So peace.