The Los Angeles Lakers are back in the NBA Finals after a decade, and one of the people who is rightfully getting credit for it is General Manager Rob Pelinka. Pelinka was responsible for putting together a team surrounding LeBron James and Anthony Davis, a team that is now just four wins away from the franchise’s 17th championship.
Inside the NBA Bubble in Orlando, the 50-year old executive is doing everything he can to help the team prepare for what should be a thrilling Finals series against the Miami Heat. ‘Everything,’ in this case, involves joining the team in practice and filling in for Miami’s players.
In a video on FanSided, the Lakers GM can be seen in a Lakers practice, putting a hand up and defending Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope on the 3-point line while forward LeBron James throws him passes.
Article Continues BelowIn the video, ESPN’s Rachel Nichols reveals that Rob Pelinka has been doing this for Los Angeles in all of their practices since the restart of the season. This is because teams were allowed to bring only a limited number of staff to the NBA Bubble, forcing people to take on multiple jobs to help their teams.
Still, a basketball executive filling in for Jimmy Butler or any other Heat player in practice is quite a sight. And it’s not as if Rob Pelinka never had experience playing basketball, as he was a member of the Michigan Wolverines for four seasons back in college, and was even teammates with the Fab Five of Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson.