The Los Angeles Lakers promote Rob Pelinka to vice president of basketball operations and general manager, the team announced on January 10.
“I’m extremely pleased with the work Rob has done in order to put this franchise in a position for success,” Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said.
“His strong leadership skills, as well as his commitment to building a winning culture both on and off the court, have brought us one step closer to being a championship-caliber team and I look forward to our continued work.”
In addition to the promotion, the Lakers reportedly extended Pelinka’s original five-year contract with them, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Lakers extended contract of GM Rob Pelinka to go along with his promotion to VP of Basketball Operations, league sources tell @RamonaShelburne and me.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 11, 2020
Pelinka agreed to a five-year contract upon his hiring in 2017, and now gets an extension on the heels of acquiring LeBron James and Anthony Davis and reshaping a lottery roster into a championship contender. https://t.co/dWfd5SXOXQ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 11, 2020
Originally hired on March, 7 2017, Pelinka joined the Lakers shortly after Magic Johnson was named the president of basketball operations.
Led by the new front office, the Lakers had a two-year plan and signed LeBron James in 2018 NBA free agency while trading for Anthony Davis in the 2019 NBA offseason. With the best All-Star duo in the league, the Lakers are currently first in the Western Conference and second in the entire NBA.
As the Lakers are a championship contender now, Pelinka has come a long way since April 2019. Following Johnson’s surprising resignation, Pelinka was heavily criticized by the fans and media, but was focused on the task at hand.
With only James, Davis, Kyle Kuzma, and Talen Horton-Tucker on the roster, Pelinka signed the right supporting cast en route to a 30-7 record now.
Although Pelinka has proven himself to the Lakers and fans, he is not resting on this early success and looking for ways to improve the roster for June.