Los Angeles Lakers part-owner and executive vice president Jim Buss has grown tired of all his critics, especially former team great Magic Johnson.
The team failed to make the postseason for two years in a row, and will enter this season facing an uncertain future in regards to culture and Kobe Bryant. Johnson has been particularly loud in criticism, and Buss can’t understand it, saying that his dad made Magic a billionaire.
“Magic Johnson going nuts on me?” Buss asked. “It’s like, ‘Really, dude? My dad made you a billionaire almost. Really? Where are you coming from?'”
Buss explained that he might take the criticism better if it came from basketball opinion he respects, among them Jerry West, Pat Riley and Bryant.
“If Jerry West said ‘Jim Buss doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing’, that would hurt. I don’t know what I would do then,” Buss said. “If Kobe came out and said, ‘Jim Buss doesn’t know what he’s doing, I’d be hurt as hell.”
Buss took control of the team after his father died in 2013, so any mess from that point on falls at his feet.
By Glenn Erby
