Jeanie Buss Admits To Mistake Following Lakers 2020 Championship

A lot of time has passed, and basketball played since the Los Angeles Lakers won their last title in 2020. It was the first season with LeBron James and Anthony Davis together. Whatever your thoughts are on the Orlando bubble championship, a championship is a championship. A ring is a ring, and the Lakers got theirs. What happened after changed the franchise for a few years, though, and looking back, not for the better. Los Angeles shipped some important pieces out, and one could argue that, had the team been kept together, they very well might have made it back to the finals the following season. That’s not how it played out, though, and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss knows that Lakers championship could have led to another.

Jeanie Buss Admits To Mistake Following Lakers 2020 Championship

Jeanie Buss’s Decision To Break Up Champion Roster Led to An Apology Years Later

A series of questionable trades and roster decisions made by GM Rob Pelinka following the 2020 title run likely held the Lakers back from further success. The move to acquire Russell Westbrook is the looming most criticized move Pelinka made, as that experiment failed. However, decisions made before Westbrook’s arrival helped stymie the Lakers repeat chances. Those decisions have been talked about a lot since then. Moving on from some key role players were included in those decisions, such as Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris. Howard has publically stated he wanted to remain in LA, and Rajon Rondo, who was part of that ’20 championship team, has also come out in recent years saying it was a mistake to break that team up.

Reminiscing On the Past

Now, a few years later, it’s still a topic of conversation. Once again, the Lakers are right in the mix of playoff and possible championship contention. One player who shared some of that 2020 championship glory has returned. Although not part of JJ Redick‘s regular rotation, Morris is back with the Lakers in a leadership and mentorship capacity. Morris’s return opened the door for Buss to extend the hand of apology for breaking the 2020 championship team up. Buss recently appeared on the Games with Names podcast hosted by former NFL receiver and New England Patriots champion Julian Edelman. She dived into that championship team and her regret over not keeping that team together for another run.

“I will say, that I kind of came from the philosophy kind of inspired by Phil Jackson that when a team wins a championship, they should have the right to defend their championship, and we didn’t do that, and I regret that. One of the players on the list, Markieff Morris, just re-joined the team in the trade for Luka. He was one of the players that came back. I told him, I said ‘I’m really sorry that we didn’t get a chance for you to defend that championship and I’m really glad you’re here.’ “

Morris Gets A Second Shot

Whether the Lakers can make another run this season remains to be seen. Despite their acquisition of Luka Dončić to play alongside LeBron, many still hold the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and even the Denver Nuggets above the Lakers as true championship contenders. That being said, to count out Luka and LeBron fully might be a fool’s errand. Suppose the Lakers can make it to the end. Morris has a chance to get what he didn’t get an opportunity to get years ago: another ring. After the trade, he stated that had he been moved elsewhere but LA, he would have retired. Well, the journey might end up being worth it.