Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss can officially be labeled “embattled”. The franchise missed the playoffs twice in Dr. Jerry Buss' four-decade tenure running the LakeShow, yet the team has made the postseason only three times in the 10 years since the kids took over (first Jim, now Jeanie). Yes, that included a championship, but Jeanie's tenure has been defined by organizational dysfunction and questionable personnel moves as much as on-court success. The fanbase is rapidly losing faith in her leadership.

Following a 33-49 campaign and the firing of Frank Vogel, and ahead of a crucial summer, Buss emerged from the shadows to speak with Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times about the state of the Lakers. She addressed various hot-button issues, including the opaque front office hierarchy, the future of Russell Westbrook, and whether she would entertain a sale. Here are the five most important takeaways from the interview.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5pTA1WRZXEgYuRy0sImAau?si=fb372bda5fa24e1e

5) Jeanie has no plans to sell

Lakers fans hoping Jeanie might be enticed to offload the franchise worth $5.5 billion — perhaps to a deep-pocketed, new-money billionaire — shouldn't hold their breath.

“In terms of selling the team, I’m not going anywhere. This is exactly what my dad asked me to do. The team is not for sale…This was something that was important to him, that he wanted me to keep the Lakers in the family. I like to say, my dad had his children, but the Lakers were his baby, and he put me in charge of the baby, and I will make sure that the baby thrives.”

As Silver Screen & Roll broke down, Jeanie can't just “sell the team”. The Lakers are operated by a complex family trust, so a sale would require four of the six Buss siblings to approve, among other complications, including the fact that the two youngest siblings, Joey and Jesse, are ascendant executives within the organization.

4) Jeanie believes she spent big

The franchise's perceived frugality has become a source of ire for Lakers fans. In 2021, the organization opted not to retain Alex Caruso for luxury tax reasons despite owning his Bird Rights. Los Angeles lost out on potentially key assistants over money and low-balled Vogel. (Embarrassingly, the Lakers were revealed to be the lone NBA team to apply for a PPP loan for small businesses.)

However, Buss believes she's written the requisite checks.

“I’m growing impatient just because we had the fourth-highest payroll in the league. … When you spend that kind of money on the luxury tax, you expect to go deep into the playoffs. So, yeah, it was gut-wrenching for me to go out on a limb like that and not get the results that we were looking for. … I’m not happy, I’m not satisfied.”

Here's the problem: it's not how much you spend, it's how smart you spend. The Lakers' tax bill is largely the result of a disastrous, ill-conceived trade that forced the team to fill out the roster with minimum contracts. Plus, having the “fourth-highest payroll” doesn't excuse not spending the extra millions to retain Caruso. Not if you claim to be going all-in on a title.

3) Linda Rambis is not involved in basketball decisions

Jeanie knows that the mysterious role of Linda Rambis — Kurt Rambis' wife and Jeanie's close confidant and colleague since the 1970s — has raised eyebrows amongst both outsiders and insiders. She sought to clarify that Linda's title (“executive director of special projects”) does not come with basketball input.

“In terms of Linda Rambis, she does not have a role in the basketball department; her role is, as it’s been for the last almost 40 years, is as my advisor. She and I have worked together for years and years and years. Why that has become an issue for people, I don’t understand.”

Buss said Linda's primary responsibility is helping players adjust to life in Los Angeles.

“Every team has somebody like that, in our case it’s Linda. … She’s done that for over 30 years with the Lakers. Not like all of a sudden she’s become the assistant general manager, that’s not true.”

Jeanie has a point that nobody cared about Linda's role until the Lakers started losing. But it's certainly fair to speculate what precisely she does, considering her closeness to the boss and Kurt. In fact, Lakers employees complained about her nebulous, yet powerful role.

Speaking of Kurt, Jeanie defended his record in the game:

“I know that there’s been some unfair criticism of Kurt Rambis. I want to remind people, he’s been involved in the NBA for close to 40 years, that he has been a part of championship teams both as a player and assistant coach, he is someone I admire for his basketball knowledge.”

For nearly all of that time, Rambis has been employed by the Buss family or Phil Jackson. When he's been outside of the Lakers facility – either as head coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves or as an advisor/interim coach with the New York Knicks — he's been wholly unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Jeanie confirmed that Jackson and Magic Johnson remain integral advisors. She re-iterated her faith in Pelinka, though said she wouldn't hesitate to make major changes should the losing continue.

“If we are not living up to the Lakers standard, absolutely I will look at everything. I will make the hard decisions, because that’s what you have to do.”

2) LeBron and Klutch aren't calling the shots, either

Jeanie pushed back on the notion that Klutch is steering basketball operations, as Pelinka and LeBron also sought to communicate at their exit interview press conferences,

“Do they have final say? No. Are they running the team? No, no, not at all. I am controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, I’m held accountable for every decision that’s made here.”

That said, Jeanie acknowledged that LeBron does hold some sway.

“It’s normal when you have a top player or players you bounce things off of them, I think that’s smart business.”

LeBron has one year left on his contract and is eligible to sign a two-year extension on Aug. 4. It will remain on the table until June, and some expect LeBron to leave it there and go year-to-year to regain some leverage and flexibility.

The Lakers have clearly empowered Klutch throughout LeBron's four years in Los Angeles. How that relationship evolves as LeBron's career winds down is amongst the most important questions facing the franchise.

1) Westbrook's future in Los Angeles is…murky

While Jeanie stated her desire to keep LeBron happily in a Lakers uniform, she was vaguer on Westbrook's future in Los Angeles.

“Having a conversation like that is premature,” she said when asked how Westbrook fits into their roster going forward. “We have to now find the right coach to lead this team. Depending on the style of play that that coach wants to play, given the roster that we have, it all has to start to come together.”

This echoes Pelinka's cryptic message on Russ at exit interviews.

“Like any player, we’ll partner with him after that decision is made about what’s best for his future. Rest assured, we’re going to look under every stone for ways to be better and be open to anything that will improve our team and will put us in a position to compete at a higher level next year than we did this year.”

May the offseason commence!