Throughout Rob Pelinka’s tenure in charge of the Los Angeles Lakers, they’ve struggled to strike major deals with other teams. In fact, some around the league even stated that other GMs simply don’t like him.
One would think that other executives would set their feelings aside for the sake of their organization. So, regardless of if they like Pelinka and the Lakers or not, they’d still look to make deals with them if they also work in their favor.
Nonetheless, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all. According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin, other teams often refuse to engage in talks with the Lakers because of ‘Professional Jealousy.’
NBA Rumors: Other Teams Are ‘Jealous’ Of The Lakers
“I don’t think there’s a magic bullet trade that’s loaded and out there that the Lakers haven’t pursued. Obviously, a lot of the trades that we end up talking about are figments of people’s imagination. There are teams out there that have owners who don’t want to deal with the Lakers out of professional jealousy,” McMenamin explained. “There are general managers who don’t wanna deal with LeBron James or Rich Paul or Rob Pelinka out of professional jealousy, so they already have things going against them when it comes to finding deals that are out there.”
“As long as the Lakers are being true, and they should be because this is bigger than LeBron James,” the insider added.“It is about being the brand of the land of champions, the 17 banners, the Larry O’Brien trophies in Jeanie Buss’s office overlooking the practice court. If they are all about winning, then they will do the right thing and make a significant trade to give this team a chance to win, not just LeBron a chance to win, but this team a chance to win in short order.”
Well, this wouldn’t be the first time something like that happens. It’s well-known that free agents often ask the New York Yankees for way more money, and the same happens with Real Madrid or Barcelona.Still, it’s kind of head-scratching.