Lakers owner Jeanie Buss opened up about the structure and inner workings of the franchise in a recent interview with Sam Amick of The Athletic.
When asked about Los Angeles’s acquisition of the controversial veteran Patrick Beverley, who has a long-standing rivalry with Lakers guard Russell Westbrook, Buss defended the move and the embattled point guard who struggled in his debut campaign with Los Angeles.
“Yeah, I remember all the video that circulated when the Lakers brought in Matt Barnes, (with) his relationship with Kobe over the years (and) being one of the best defenders on Kobe,” Buss said to Amick. “And now he becomes teammates with Kobe. We’ve seen these storylines before. Pat Beverley was brought here to play defense, to be that guy that knows how to push his teammates, (who) sets an example with how he approaches his job. … So it has nothing to do with Russ. And like I said, I think that people, they love to pull up storylines and create something and that just isn’t the case.
