Stephen A. Smith believes the Lakers’ new ownership could bring a familiar kind of shakeup, and in his view Rob Pelinka may not be the one steering basketball operations for much longer.
On his show, Smith made it clear this was his own read on the situation, not something he said came from sources. Still, he expects the incoming ownership group to eventually put its own people in place.
“I think Rob Pelinka will not be there running basketball operations for the Los Angeles Lakers. I don’t believe that will happen moving forward.”
Smith also pushed back on the idea that everything should change. In his eyes, Jeanie Buss is too closely tied to the franchise to simply disappear from the picture.
“I do believe that, you know what, I think that somebody like Jeanie Buss should be around. She’s synonymous with the Lakers and synonymous with the Laker brand, and she’s adored and revered and respected by everybody in the basketball community.
She’s the matriarch of basketball, as far as I’m concerned. I don’t think you lose somebody like that.”
The name Smith kept circling back to was Bob Myers, the former Golden State Warriors executive he sees as the ideal fit if the Lakers go looking for a new leader.
“I think that Bob Myers is with the Philadelphia 76ers. It’s gonna be real interesting to see what happens there.
And the reason I feel that way, Ramona, is that prior to working with Josh Harris and being a part of his clique when it came to the Washington Commanders and ultimately the Philadelphia 76ers, I mean, Bob Myers gets on the scene, making basketball decisions, and in a month, had Jaylen Brown and LeBron James on the squad. In a month.
A month on the job, okay? That’s the four-time champion that was formerly at the Golden State Warriors.”
“If there is a way to get that man, I think you go get him. This is my belief.
I haven’t spoken to anybody about it. This is my personal belief, Ramona.
I say, that’s what I’m looking out for.”
Smith later reiterated that Myers is the type of executive he’d target if the Lakers wanted to make a bold move. He said Myers would be the “perfect person” for the job.
Myers is currently the president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, a role he assumed in 2025. He later became the Sixers’ interim president after Daryl Morey was fired in May 2026, before Mike Gansey was hired for the position.
Smith pointed to Myers’ offseason work as part of the appeal, saying he oversaw the successful period when Jaylen Brown and LeBron James landed in the same offseason. But he also acknowledged that prying Myers away from his current job would be a far more complicated task than simply wanting him.
Pelinka’s own case is not easy to reduce to one clean verdict. He helped build the roster that won the 2020 NBA championship and later pulled off the stunning Luka Doncic trade in 2024, two moves that bought him plenty of goodwill.
At the same time, plenty of the decisions in between those highs have been questioned. The Russell Westbrook trade stands out as the clearest example, and the Lakers have repeatedly struggled to build the right supporting cast around their stars. Pelinka has also taken heat for how the end of LeBron James’s career has been handled, which has kept Lakers fans split on his overall legacy.
The ownership change only adds more uncertainty. Jeanie Buss is expected to remain the Lakers’ governor for the future because her prior agreement with Mark Walter still stands. But a new ownership group that spent a record $12.5 billion to buy the franchise would naturally want its own structure in place.
Whether that ends with Pelinka out of the job is still unknown. But if Smith’s hunch proves right, the Lakers may soon be looking for a new face to run basketball operations - and, in his view, there are few better options than the executive who helped build the Warriors dynasty.
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