“Disappointment. Awful. It’s not Laker-esque at all.”
-Jeanie Buss on the Lakers’ Season
JEANIE BUSS GIVES HER THOUGHTS ON THE LAKERS SEASON AND MORE ON THE NEXT EDITION OF
JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME®
This Month’s Edition of JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME Premieres
Wednesday, April 9, at 9 p.m. ET/PT
Only on SHOWTIME
LOS ANGELES (April 9, 2014) – Los Angeles Lakers President Jeanie Buss joins this month’s edition of JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME and gives her take on the Lakers’ season, discusses her fiancé Phil Jackson’s new job with the New York Knicks and says she doesn’t think NBA teams are intentionally tanking. The episode premieres this Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME®.
Rome also is joined in The Forum by former NBA star Raja Bell, NFL super-agent Drew Rosenhaus and author Paul Solotaroff, who discuss the standing ovation given to Ryan Braun, the Philadelphia Eagles cutting star DeSean Jackson, and more of today’s hottest sports topics. Plus, former No. 1 ranked tennis player Andre Agassi talks with Rome about his autobiography. And, Rome goes one-on-one with 2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson, San Antonio Spurs forward Manu Ginobili and Boston Red Sox star Jonny Gomes.
JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME premieres the second Wednesday of every month with multiple replays each week on SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME EXTREME®. The program is available at SHOWTIME ON DEMAND® and SHOWTIME ANYTIME®.
Following are excerpts from this week’s Jim Rome on SHOWTIME:
ROME: “If could use one word to describe this season, what would it be?”
JEANIE BUSS: “Disappointment. Awful. It’s not Laker-esque at all.”
ROME: “You are engaged to Phil Jackson. Did he at any point say, ‘I want to get back in. I want something to do.’ Did he come to you and say, ‘I would like to have an official job with the Lakers?’ ”
BUSS: “What was important to him was that he wants to see my family be successful. And however he can help he wanted to help. I am in charge of the Lakers. I’ve empowered Mitch Kupchak and my brother Jim Buss to put together the best team they can. There was no role for Phil Jackson in this organization and that is why he’s not here.”
ROME: “How is there not a role for Phil Jackson within that organization?”
BUSS: “Phil wanted to work again. I could have hired him to work in the marketing department or possibly season-ticket sales, but I don’t think he would have been very good at it (laughter). The basketball side was covered and Phil wanted to influence an organization and I feel he got the second-best job in the NBA working with the New York Knicks.”
JIM ROME: “Is there tanking going on in the league?”
JEANIE BUSS: “I think it’s disappointing going out and telling players not to play. From what I know, I would say no. I think it’s impossible.”
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ROME: “How could the Milwaukee fans give Ryan Braun a standing ovation? Don’t you earn a standing ovation?”
RAJA BELL: “I think they should be ashamed of themselves for cheering for him like that. Not for the PED use. What he did after with the lying and then throwing innocent people under the bus and ruining their lives. That’s the despicable thing. So you can’t cheer for him stand-ovation wise.”
ROME: “In regards to the Eagles cutting DeSean Jackson, if it wasn’t about the money and gang-ties had something to do with it, is that worth cutting someone over?”
PAUL SOLOTAROFF: “If you are mob-deep in the NFL everyone from the director of team security on down to the guy who wipes the balls knows it. Aaron Hernandez got into a big white suburban with three stone-cold bloods every Sunday and trailed huge clouds of ganja. Everybody in that clubhouse knew. And nothing stays in-house in an NFL clubhouse.”
***
ROME: “What was your reaction when you heard Tiger Woods had to withdraw from the Masters?”
BUBBA WATSON: “Sad. For the game of golf, he’s the icon. He’s the best player in the world. You want him to be here. You want the world to see him. And I want to play with the best … We all want to beat Tiger Woods if we can.”
ROME: “You describe yourself as a new-age redneck. What is that?”
WATSON: “I don’t drink. I’ve never been drunk. I don’t dip. Don’t smoke. I don’t hang out in bars and I don’t like country music. I don’t hunt. I’ll fish, but I don’t touch the fish. My mom’s from the country, so I guess I got a little country in me.”
ROME: “Golf Digest put Paulina Gretzky on the cover and the LPGA wanted to know why she made the cover, and not one of their players. Do you have a problem with that?”
WATSON: “I don’t have a problem with it. She’s a great role model for kids. She a model and has a great family sports heritage. But I think for the magazine they could have gone to a younger girl who’s actually playing the game like Lexi Thompson who just won a major. The magazine I think went the wrong way with that. For the magazine I don’t think it’s the way to go.”
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