The Lakers ownership and decision making has been complicated since the passing of Jerry Buss, but Jeanie Buss has stated emphatically that she’s the “boss”, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. In an interview on the “Mason and Ireland”show, Buss said, “I am responsible ultimately for anything with the team and decisions that are made. In my position, I empower people that are in positions to do their jobs. [Executive vice president of player personnel] Jim Buss and [general manager] Mitch Kupchak are responsible for all basketball decisions. They are empowered to do that. My job is to make sure, as a boss, that I provide them the tools to do the job successfully. But it’s up to them to make the day-to-day decisions on how they operate their area of the business.”
More from out west:
- Royce White may finally achieve his dream of playing in the NBA tonight when the Kings take on the Spurs, writes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. White has had a tumultuous career since being taken 16th overall by the Rockets in the 2012 NBA Draft. Mental health issues have taken their toll and kept him off the court. In regards to those issues, White said, “I think (the issues) kind of resolved themselves over time. Just me being in the league for a year and a half and having things be on the table with the league and the union and discussing it put this organization in a better position to handle things. It’s been so good we haven’t even had a discussion about anything. That’s exciting.”
- The Mavericks have recalled Gal Mekel from the NBA D-League, the team announced. In 31 appearances for the Mavs, Mekel has averaged 2.4 PPG, 0.9 RPG, and 2.0 APG in 9.4 minutes per game.
- The Warriors have assigned Ognjen Kuzmic to Santa Cruz in the D-League, the team announced. Kuzmic has compiled averages of 6.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG in 21.4 minutes per game over nine games for Santa Cruz this season.