Lakers Owner Says She's the Boss

If anyone wondered who really runs the Los Angeles Lakers, Jeanie Buss has as message for you.

She does.

Buss reiterated her posiiton on an LA radio station Thursday, saying -- as she has since the death of her father, Dr Jerry Buss -- that she makes the final decisions for her team, not her brother Jim nor general manager Mitch Kupchak

“I’m the boss,” Jeanie Buss said in an interview on the Mason and Ireland show on ESPNLA 710.

“I am responsible ultimately for anything with the team and decisions that are made."

So wait a minute. All those lousy decisions being made aren't just Jim Buss' fault? It's Jeanie's, too?

The signing of Dwight Howard? The hiring of Mike D'Antoni? Paying Kobe all that money? All of Jeanie Buss' final decisions.

She also said her siblings do get a say so, but the ultimate decision was hers. All this time I thought it was Jim Buss making all this bad decisions. My bad.

However, there's no denying that a power struggle has been going on between Jeanie and Jim ever since their father died. Her comments about the Lakers not re-hiring Jackson as their coach after Mike Brown was dismissed is evidence of that. She can gloss over it all she wants in interviews, but the conflict is still in full swing. This latest flare of publicity is merely another chapter.

However, if you want to take her claims at face value, then maybe the wrong Buss is in charge, because it's obvious that Jeanie Buss is so busy with perpetual fiancé Phil Jackson that she hasn't been paying attention to what's been going on with her team.

So, maybe the J Geils Band was right. Love really does stink.