Jeanie Buss says it’s ‘harder for any one team to dominate’ than when her father owned Lakers

Jeanie Buss appeared on a podcast and discussed the challenges of building a Lakers roster now, given the salary cap limitations in the modern NBA.

There’s been much chatter all summer about how this new collective bargaining agreement has made it harder for teams to retain or acquire players.

While the Lakers kept the roster from last year very much intact this summer, they couldn’t make a big splash like acquiring Klay Thompson or DeMar DeRozan. Even with LeBron James re-signing for less money, the franchise is still restricted by the salary cap.

Owner Jeanie Buss appeared on the NBA Finals File podcast and discussed these challenges compared to how the league was when her father was in charge during the Showtime era.

“By design, the NBA has, through a salary cap system, a revenue sharing system, they’re trying to even the playing field and create more parity. It’s just that much harder for any one team to dominate. It’s a different environment than when my dad started in the 80s when there was no salary cap.

“Every time Larry Bird got a new contract, my dad would call Magic and rip up the old one and give him a new one. And you could do stuff like that. My dad always wanted Magic to be the highest-paid player and you could do that because there weren’t the same rules that are in place now.”

Any justification for the lack of moves will frustrate impatient fans, but the league has more parity overall.

Over the past six years, there have been six different NBA champions. That hasn’t happened since the mid-70s when the league had different winners from 1975-80. Funnily enough, the 1980 title was her father, Dr. Jerry Buss’ first year as owner and began a run of titles between the Lakers and Celtics that forever changed the trajectory of the league and those franchises.

Jeanie is right; it’s harder now to have a run like that and doing so will now require more than just a willingness to pay the luxury tax.

You’ll likely also have to be okay with operating under the second apron restrictions, which hamper your ability to draft, pick up players via the buy out market, and take away your mid-level exception.

Still, if the playing field is even, then you have the same tools, resources and rules as everyone else. Isn’t that ideal? Wouldn’t better-run front offices that can optimize talent ultimately win more than those that don’t?

Every era has its new obstacles that make winning difficult. If the problem is that things are balanced, that seems to be where one would want things to be.

Maybe dynasties are dead. We won’t see teams stacked with stars last together long enough to go on a three-peat and the days of a franchise winning six titles in eight years will be just stories from the past.

Or maybe not. Perhaps teams will just have to get more creative and build out rosters that can withstand one or two core players rotating regularly. The history of the NBA says it’s always about a few haves and many have-nots, and it may take time to adjust, but I’m guessing someone will find a way to string together a few titles regardless of second aprons.

Here’s hoping Jeanie and vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka are the duo to get it done in Los Angeles for the Lakers.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.