The Los Angeles Lakers have been living a nightmare these past few years. While the franchise has yet to reach the playoffs in six years, the direction of the organization seems to be going nowhere positive anytime soon with general manager Rob Pelinka now at the helm of basketball operations.
There have been deep ongoing concerns about Pelinka's credibility, starting for one, with his uncommon practices.
Pelinka has been known to sit in on pregame and halftime coaches' meetings, something most staff members and other front-office executives said is rather uncommon for a general manager to do:
“It's weird from the player's standpoint,” a Lakers coaching staff member told ESPN's Baxter Holmes. “The players are not able to open up and speak freely, because you've got the guy in the room who supposedly controls your future, so why would you open up and be honest and confrontational when that might be what is required for that moment?”
The staffer described said meetings, saying, “It's very quiet in there.”
Former Lakers coach Luke Walton had addressed the issue with Pelinka at least once, telling him that his presence was uncomfortable, at the very least.
Walton also made an example of a direct correlation, as former-agent-turned-general-manager Bob Myers didn't sit in on such meetings, as Walton could attest from his time as an assistant of the Golden State Warriors.
Pelinka told Walton that he had communicated with Myers, saying the two-time Executive of the Year had now started to sit in on these meetings since Walton departed from his former job.
According to Holmes' sources, Myers does no such thing.
That is just one example of how Pelinka's information appears to be not credible at best, and what could be described as a pathological desire to bend the truth to his advantage.
League executives have grown concerned about the flow and accuracy of information, ranging from scouting, potential trades, free agency, the NBA Draft and personnel hirings, as current and former Lakers staffers have raised serious concerns about Pelinka's credibility:
“We think, more often than not, he's not being truthful,” a coaching staff member said. “That goes throughout the organization.”
It's tough to fathom progress for a front office that now relies on a man who has used lies and deception as his main weapons to retain his post as general manager — even less so with a bevy of concerns that only keep expanding after his two-year tenure with the Lakers.
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