Jeanie Buss: Idea of Lakers tanking 'doesn't resonate with me'
In case she hasn't already made her thoughts on the subject clear enough, Los Angeles Lakers president Jeanie Buss is here to remind you that, no thanks, the tanking life isn't for her.
She's cited a few reasons in the past for her aversion to intentional losing, calling it "unforgivable" and "irresponsible," and claiming that the strategy is bound to wreak organizational chaos.
On Tuesday, Buss went on SiriusXM NBA Radio and refuted the notion that the Lakers should tank for a top-five draft slot, which is the only way they'll get to keep their pick this year.
(A quick refresher: the Lakers owe the Phoenix Suns a first-round pick from the Steve Nash sign-and-trade in 2012. It's top-five protected this year, top-three protected in 2016 and 2017, and unprotected in 2018.)
"The draft pick to Phoenix, if we don't give it to them this year, we have to give it to them next year, so I don't really see what the logic would be," Buss said, according to Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times.
"Try to tank to keep it this year, because we'd just have to give it away next year – that doesn't resonate with me. I think it's impossible to tell your coach and tell your players, 'Try not to win.' That goes against everything an organization is about."
Tanking or not, the Lakers were well on their way to retaining their pick early in the season, when they started out 1-9. Since that horrific start, they're a far more respectable 10-15 (a stretch that coincided with the return of Nick Young), with quality wins over the Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors. If the season ended today, the Lakers would hold the fifth spot in the lottery order, but keep this up and they'll play themselves out of a draft pick.
"We're struggling but we've been in so many games and you see the learning curve with a new coach and players learning how to play together, learning how to play the way he wants them to," said Buss. "There have been many games where a basket would have made the difference and we'd be telling a different story now."