Lakers Aren't Expected to Fire GM Rob Pelinka Says ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne

The NBA insider reports that the Lakers will not be cutting ties with Rob Pelinka after the season.

The Lakers blame pie is a metaphorical pastry of epic proportions. Injuries to Anthony Davis and LeBron James form the crust, but filling out the roster with over-the-hill veterans should not be overlooked. Neither should deciding to acquire Russell Westbrook. 

LeBron James might have had some influence on those roster decisions, but at the end of the day, it was general manager Rob Pelinka's fingers actually hitting the buttons. 

According to a recent article from ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne, that's not expected to change anytime soon. 

"The front office, led by president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka and special adviser Kurt Rambis, is expected to remain in power, sources said."

Pelinka's name typically gets most of the shine when the Lakers front office gets talked about, but senior basketball adviser Kurt Rambis' impact on the organization, especially when it comes to roster construction, is massive. You could even argue it's Rambis telling Pelinka exactly what button to push and when to push it. 

This season, reportedly Rambis famously barnstormed into a coaches meeting to admonish the staff for not utilizing Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan (remember him?) enough on offense. 

Rambis' role as an adviser isn't just limited to undercutting the Lakers coaching staff. It also includes selecting the coaching staff itself.

According to at least one report, Rambis, and his wife Linda, effectively roadblocked the Lakers from hiring Tyronn Lue back in 2019.

This past March, veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein noted that Kurt Rambis is "incredibly influential" in the organization. In that same article, Stein labeled the Rambises, or the "Rambi" as they're colloquially known in some Lakers fan circles, as pillars in the LA "four-pronged brain trust". Majority owner Jeanie Buss and Pelinka round out the Lakers sphere of influence. 

That grouping is not changing any time soon. But what will likely be changing dramatically over the coming months is the Lakers roster.