LOS ANGELES — New Lakers president of business operations Lon Rosen believes there are more similarities between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers organizations than there are differences, as the two mainstays in the L.A. sports market.
“I think the Lakers are a really successful group,” Rosen said Tuesday, speaking to a small group of reporters to make his first public remarks since accepting the new position last week. “Let’s face it, there was a transaction made a couple months ago for the most money you’ve ever seen for a transaction.
“So, things have to be going well. … Sitting here today, obviously things will evolve. Are they going to change? I don’t know what change means now because that’s a pretty good franchise.”
New Lakers owner Mark Walter, who purchased the franchise at a $10 billion valuation in October, tabbed Rosen to leave his role with the back-to-back World Series champion Dodgers and replaced outgoing Lakers president of business operations Tim Harris.
Rosen, 67, whose first job out of college was an intern for the Lakers before serving as Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s longtime agent and later, an executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Dodgers since 2012, projected stability as he became the first high-profile employee to bridge the gap between owner Walter’s two franchises.
As the Lakers enter into a crucial offseason with major roster decisions to be made to surround 26-year-old superstar Luka Doncic with championship-level talent, Rosen made it clear that Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka will remain in his role — and be flanked by Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and Dodgers special adviser Farhan Zaidi.
“I just run the business side, Rob’s empowered to do what he does,” Rosen said. “Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, they have involvement helping Rob a bit. It gives you a deeper bench, and I think Rob appreciates that. And it is unique. But they have a skill set that they can transfer some of it here. And that’s really how we look at it.
“Look, I have a really good relationship with Rob. I’ve known Rob Pelinka from when he was representing Kobe [Bryant]. I met him many, many years ago.”
Rosen also was asked about Johnson, the Lakers legend and former president of basketball operations who abruptly stepped down from his post in the front office alongside Pelinka at the end of the 2018-19 season.
“Earvin is one of the most unique individuals I’ve known in my life, and he’s one of my closest friends,” Rosen said. “I’ve known him since we were both 19. Earvin’s involved with all types of things. He owns football teams, baseball teams, soccer teams, insurance companies, a lot of things. He’s always going to have some type of involvement with all the teams, but he is not going to have a day-to-day involvement. It’s going to be no different since he left the Lakers.
“Obviously, he’s a huge fan of the Lakers, but he’s not going to be, ‘Hey, Rob, go sign this player. Do that.’ He’ll always be involved with all the teams that he’s involved in, but no, he’s not going to have day-to-day involvement, at all. He is a super Laker fan and he’ll continue to be a super Laker fan. It’s not bad to have that.”
Rosen then pointed out the way Johnson emceed the halftime ceremony honoring Pat Riley’s statue, along with the “Showtime” Lakers, during Sunday’s L.A.-Boston Celtics game as an example of Johnson’s continued presence.
He also vouched for two long-standing businesses relationships the Lakers have to continue: their home court remaining Crypto.com Arena and their television home remaining on Spectrum SportsNet.
“It’s a great building,” Rosen said of the former Staples Center, which opened in 1999. “It’s very functional. I guess the fans like it, because they come here and they sell it out, and they enjoy the environment, they eat the food, they park their cars — so it’s a very efficient building.”
And on Spectrum SportsNet, their regional sports network rights holder since 2012: “I have a pretty unique seat, because I work with two teams that both work with Spectrum. Look, Spectrum is a great partner.”
Rosen said he’ll still have some Dodgers responsibilities, but the “majority” of his time will be spent with the Lakers moving forward.
And he said Doncic can enhance the Lakers’ global footprint, much the same way Shohei Ohtani has for the Dodgers.
“We signed Shohei Ohtani, and the world sort of flipped on itself on a business model,” Rosen said. “I think there’s a huge growth potential for the Lakers internationally … and having Luka Doncic doesn’t hurt at all. I mean, he’s one of the most popular players in the world and we want to jump on his shoulders and see what we can reach out there.”
