Jim Buss' next coaching hire will be his last as Los Angeles Lakers head of basketball operations.
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The Los Angeles Times recently reported that the son of the late Dr. Jerry Buss told his family in January that he would step down from his position with the franchise if the Lakers don't return to contention within three or four years.
"I was laying myself on the line by saying, if this doesn't work in three to four years, if we're not back on the top - and the definition of top means contending for the Western Conference, contending for a championship - then I will step down because that means I have failed," he told The Times about the meeting. "I don't know if you can fire yourself if you own the team ... but what I would say is I'd walk away and you guys figure out who's going to run basketball operations because I obviously couldn't do the job.
"There's no question in my mind we will accomplish success. I'm not worried about putting myself on the line."
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There is a question, however, in everyone else's mind about Buss' ability to guide the Lakers back to prominence, based on his track record so far. As he prepares to begin the search for Mike D'Antoni's replacement, worry is at the forefront of most Lakers fans' minds.
Buss hired former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Mike Brown to replace then-retiring Phil Jackson after the 2010-11 season. Brown lasted one season and five games. He guided the Lakers to a Pacific Division title and an appearance in the Western Conference semifinals his first year in 2011-12.
The Lakers loaded up with Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Antawn Jamison to join forces with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol for the 2012-13 season but started off 1-4, and the Brown experiment was over.
But instead of going back to Jackson, the coach that had brought five titles to the Lakers from 2000-10 - Buss and Mitch Kupchak inquired about Jackson's possible return - Buss almost inexplicably hired Mike D'Antoni instead as Jackson was mulling over a return.
It wasn't D'Antoni's resume that raised questions - he had led the Phoenix Suns to two Western Conference finals appearances with Nash in his prime. But his instant offense system did not fit with the personnel the Lakers had - especially with an aging Nash incapable of running D'Antoni's up-and-down-the-court style for extended periods of time.
Hiring Jackson would have made sense because Bryant, Gasol and some of the other Lakers already were well-versed in his triangle offense. The Lakers would have to learn D'Antoni's offense on the run with the 2012-13 season already in full swing.
Plus, Howard, who was scheduled to become a free agent after the 2012-13 season, said he wanted Jackson.
Nash broke his leg in the second game of the season and the Lakers had a 17-25 record before mounting a furious comeback to finish 45-37 and earning a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season. But Bryant played exhaustive minutes getting the Lakers to the postseason and blew out his Achilles during the third-to-last game of the regular season.
Without him, Los Angeles bowed out meekly to the San Antonio Spurs in four games in the first round of the playoffs. Howard bolted for the Houston Rockets in the offseason, Bryant rushed his rehab from the Achilles and suffered a season-ending knee injury in 2013-14 after only six games.
The Lakers, who had a roster devoid of any star power when Gasol and Nash were out with their own injuries, finished with the worst record since the franchise moved to Los Angeles.
One prominent former Laker summed up the feeling about D'Antoni's tenure after news of his resignation became public on Wednesday night -- Magic Johnson.
Happy days are here again! Mike D'Antoni resigns as the Lakers coach. I couldn't be happier! — Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 1, 2014
And now, Lakers fans are supposed to feel confident that Buss now will make the right hire to bring the franchise back from the abyss?
Besides, who could the Lakers possibly hire to begin the foundation back to winning NBA championships? Kentucky coach John Calipari already said he had no interest, and Jackson now is president of the New York Knicks.
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne said Wednesday night that she didn't expect the Lakers to make a hire before the NBA draft on June 26. That at least gives the franchise some time to see whether one or more coaches currently involved in the playoffs - Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson, Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel, Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks or Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale - might become available if and when their teams are eliminated.
Do any of those coaches evoke confidence in Lakers fans that they can win a championship the way Jackson did? And Buss passed on him.
Buss' hires have directed the Lakers descent from the NBA title Jackson won in 2010 to the second worst record in the Western Conference in 2013-14.
The notion that Buss now will make the right hire to get the Lakers back into championship form is based purely on hope and faith, rather than any physical evidence to this point.
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