Throughout Rob Pelinkaās tenure in charge of the Los Angeles Lakers, theyāve struggled to strike major deals with other teams. In fact, some around the league even stated that other GMs simply donāt 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, theyād still look to make deals with them if they also work in their favor.
Nonetheless, that doesnāt seem to be the case at all. According to ESPNās Brian Windhorst and Dave McMenamin, other teams often refuse to engage in talks with the Lakers because of āProfessional Jealousy.ā
NBA Rumors: Other Teams Are āJealousā Of The Lakers
āI donāt think thereās a magic bullet trade thatās loaded and out there that the Lakers havenāt pursued. Obviously, a lot of the trades that we end up talking about are figments of peopleās imagination. There are teams out there that have owners who donāt want to deal with the Lakers out of professional jealousy,ā McMenamin explained. āThere are general managers who donāt 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.ā
āAs long as the Lakers are being true, and they should be because this is bigger than LeBron James,ā the insider added.āIt is about being the brand of the land of champions, the 17 banners, the Larry OāBrien trophies in Jeanie Bussās 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.ā
Well, this wouldnāt be the first time something like that happens. Itās 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, itās kind of head-scratching.
