Buss discusses moves in interview with ESPN the Magazine…
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Los Angeles Lakers president Jeanie Buss had revealed that the franchises intended on building around Steve Nash and not Dwight Howard.
In a Q&A with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Buss discussed various aspects of the franchise’s decisions over the past two years, including the decision of her father to appoint Mike D’Antoni as coach in 2012.
While that tenure is now over and the Lakers look to rebuild with Byron Scott at the helm, they have endured a miserable season or so with a lack of assets, quality and injury woes ensuring that they have been at the wrong end of the Western Conference.
Buss has revealed that the plan was to build around Nash rather than Howard, with the latter since moving on to join the Houston Rockets after just one year in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Nash has been ruled out for the entire season this year after suffering from on-going back problems, and so the 37-year-old is likely to retire in 2015 with the Lakers not being able to rely on him since his arrival.
“It came down to hiring a coach. [The Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni in November 2012.] When you have a big man and a guard, you have to decide whom you’re going to build your team around. The choice was to build it around Steve Nash and what suited Steve Nash instead of what suited Dwight Howard,” Buss said.
Howard also clashed with Lakers legend Kobe Bryant during their time together in LA, and so it has been a series of unfortunate and destructive moves for the franchise as they look to come through a difficult transitional period.
Whether or not Buss can make the right moves moving forward remains to be seen, but with the Lakers expected to make big moves in free agency next summer, fans won’t have long to wait to find out.
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