The basketball version of Andrew Friedman is named Samuel Clay Prestigiacomo. He shortened it to Sam Presti after he was born in Concord, Mass. In the 47th-largest media market, he drafted three MVPs and lost Kevin Durant and James Harden in the superteam swirl, keeping Russell Westbrook as he averaged a triple-double for a season. He rebuilt the Oklahoma City Thunder, traded Paul George for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, drafted Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren and dealt Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso.
Suddenly, with a championship banner lifted, we know the city beyond the Flaming Lips.
They are the band that once sang, “She don’t use butter. And she don’t use cheese. She don’t use jelly, or any of these. She uses Vaseline. Vaseline.” Such is the easy scroll of Presti’s accomplishments, which concluded with a title that could become a dynasty. Friedman had a similar honor roll in Tampa Bay, with a World Series appearance, and agreed to join owner Mark Walter with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014.
He has won three World Series and reached the playoffs every year. Last month, Walter bought the Los Angeles Lakers in a $10 billion valuation. So when two brothers of Jeanie Buss were fired as major scouts Thursday — Joey and Jesse, eight years after she rubbed out older brothers Jim and Johnny in a legal matter — we concluded this: Walter and what is left of Jeanie, before she is removed as team governor in about five years, will hire the roundball version of Friedman.
That would be Presti, or Prestigiacomo, who won’t be able to reject the massive fortune soon presented to him. How would he like the opportunity to sign future Hall of Famers — Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic — along with other stars making moves? Why must he tell fans he was rebuilding, as he did in Oklahoma, when Walter wants to win every year? Why must he worry about financial issues in a small town? The NBA’s second apron? Walter will move past obstacles with the proper president of basketball operations.
Wisely, Friedman was installed this week in an advisory role with the Lakers, ESPN reports. He joins Farhan Zaidi, who failed as general manager of the San Francisco Giants but is a key player in helping with Walter’s transition. Both will help with analytics, a sore point in the organization. Do they need the phone number of Presti? Or will Presti call them?
The owner still has Rob Pelinka, who won one title in a pandemic season and generally has mished and mashed in a prominent job. It should surprise no one that Jesse Buss, the Lakers’ assistant general manager and director of scouting, didn’t speak to his sister or to Pelinka for “five months,” as he told The Athletic. This is how the franchise has been operated. Do not view Jesse as someone who loathes Walter. He loves him and thinks he can save the Lakers.
“I think Mark Walter has had a ton of success, obviously, in the sports landscape, and being able to see what he’s done with the Dodgers has been simply amazing. I think the Lakers are in great hands, honestly,” Jesse said. “Now, I think the team, as currently constructed, obviously it looks like that they could definitely make some noise this season. And it’s been an absolute thrill to watch them. I think JJ (Redick) is an absolutely fantastic coach and I think he’s proven that over the last year and some change. And I hope going forward that Mark can kind of bring a lot of what he brought to the Dodgers.
“Because I think if the vision, more or less, is the same from what I’ve seen over the last 10 years, then it necessarily isn’t always going to lead to the success that Laker fans have become accustomed to when my dad ran the operations and owned the team.”
His father was Jerry Buss, the showperson/playboy who won 10 championships over 30 years. Under Jeanie, they won once. Pelinka won only because LeBron James waved to Anthony Davis — and they had enough to survive at Walt DIsney World. Since then — and before then — they haven’t been the Lakers. They were replaced in glory by James in Miami, James in Cleveland, the four titles of the Golden State Warriors, one title in Boston and others from Milwaukee, Denver, San Antonio, Dallas and Toronto. One title since 2010 is a sham.
In Oklahoma City, there is nothing else to do but wave index fingers in June. Owner Clay Bennett has poured $800 million into deals for Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren. “It’s obviously really significant for us to have those types of players committed to the organization for the amount of time that they are,” Presti said of bucks who are ages 27, 24 and 23. “All of them are still improving. All of them have demonstrated their ability to impact winning on both sides of the ball. We’re really fortunate to have these guys, but I’ve also talked about mutual commitment in these press conferences many, many times, and when you get to a point like that, it’s a continuation of that commitment that they’ve made to the organization and that our organization has made to them.”
One trip to southern California, a stop at a huge home in Manhattan Beach and a shake of Luka Doncic’s hand should be enough. James will be gone, sooner or later, but Walter will make sure Reaves signs his $241 million extension. Presti has won in Oklahoma City when the Sacramento Kings haven’t won since 1951, when they were the Rochester Royals.
What’s next?
If Prestigiacomo can change his name, he certainly knows.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.