Dumb-O-Meter
Things are changing, however. Thanks to the unflagging efforts of owner Jerry Buss, the Lakers now merit a rating of “dumb” on the dumb-o-meter. Like Steinbrenner, Buss often has been willing to pay to win championships, and he has won eight of them, but he does not seem to understand that successful stewardship of a marquee franchise entails a measure of statesmanship as well as largesse. In recent years, he has allowed both Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant to treat his team as a whipping boy and to make a fool out of him. Taking his cue from the famously dysfunctional relationship between Steinbrenner and manager Billy Martin, he fired Phil Jackson only to rehire him one season later. Of course he still is a piker compared to Steinbrenner when it comes to breaking the law and getting caught, but his recent DUI puts him in play if not quite in contention. All that remains now for the Lakers to slide even further, from “dumb” to “dumber,” would be for Buss to anoint his daughter Jeanie as his successor. She is preparing for her future role by undertaking such current assignments as team vice president, Phil Jackson romantic interest, Paris Hilton companion, and sometime Playboy model.
As life with the Lakers becomes more farcical, Boston, always known for its brainpower, is becoming even smarter. It understands the most important issue for any sports franchise is to get the right player at the right price. When Wyc Grousbeck and other investors purchased the Celtics in 2002, they brought along a quantitative approach to analyzing rosters and on-court strategy that continues to be undervalued by many other clubs. One of their first projects was a regression analysis of 25 years of the NBA draft to determine which college statistics best equate with NBA success at each of the five positions. It was their use of APBRmetrics that enabled the Celtics to recognize how critical Kevin Garnett could be to their rebuilding effort. If they continue to combine off-court processes with on-court success in this manner, they will safeguard their status as the premier dynasty in the history of American sport.