Letters: Readers are stunned by Lakers’ first free-agency move

Just off the top of my head, I can think of 64 million reasons why it is time for Jim Buss to step down from running the Lakers.

Joe Nadeau

Santa Clarita

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Mozgov? $64 million? You’ve got to be kidding. I looked it up and Mozgov means “Robert Sacre” in Russian. Looks like Mitch Kupchak has been drinking from the same bottle as Jimmy Buss.

Carlo Fisco

Marina del Rey

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The Lakers just committed $64 million to a guy who averaged 6.3 points and 4.4 rebounds last year. Hopefully this one of those situations where there’s some complicated cyber-metric statistics justification that old school fans like me wouldn’t understand.

Rob Osborne

Manhattan Beach

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Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Timofey? Seriously?

Jeffrey Brown

Santa Barbara

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Kevin Durant won’t even meet with the Lakers? That’s really all you need to know about the current situation.

On the bright side, as long as this Buss is at the helm we get the thrill of a lottery pick. Every year. Buckle up, Luke!

Jeff Heister

Chatsworth

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Kevin Durant is not interested in considering the Lakers as a possible destination, but he is interested in talking to the Clippers. Durant realizes that the Lakers have their sixth coach in six years. Hiring the wrong coach time after time sends a message to players about the competency of management. It is doubtful any of the top five free agents will say yes to the Lakers franchise. Maybe the Lakers should stop firing players and coaches and fire themselves.

Richard Leeds

Irvine

Trouble in Anaheim

Angels General Manager Billy Eppler laughingly said, “It’s not in this team’s DNA to rebuild.” He is 100% correct. With the second-worst record in the American League, the worst farm system in baseball, an owner who no longer cares about winning and no more than 2-3 legitimate major league players on the roster (Albert Pujols not being one of them), the team is not looking to rebuild. They should be looking to blow things up and start all over again.

If Eppler truly believes his team is a contender, he needs to head west on Katella a few miles until he gets to Disneyland, because right now he is living in Fantasyland.

Erik Schuman

Fountain Valley

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So Mike Scioscia’s “Gipper” speech to the cellar-dwelling team that is 19 games behind Texas in the AL West is: “We need to get better.” ? Maybe Mike is auditioning for his next job — replacing Captain Obvious in the Hotels.com commercials.

Harriet Ottaviano

Hillsboro, Ore.

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I find the comments by Billy Eppler a little more than disconcerting where he describes what the pressing issues are with the team’s dismal season to date. It’s not hitting he says, but pitching? Maybe he should come and sit in a fan’s home and watch a game away from the luxury box at the stadium. There he just might see what we see.

What we see is runners left on base time, after time, after time. During one recent game, one of the game announcers even commented, describing the hitting as ineffective, and said during a recent span,the team stranded 59 while scoring only about 10 runs, magnifying wasted opportunities. Love Albert, but other than an occasional home run, he’s leading the league in hitting into double plays and the team is being carried by Trout, as usual, but wins are few and far between under the present line-ups we’ve seen.

Ownership needs to take responsibility for the big payouts with little return. Or are we in a “building phase” this year? Or, just what is the game plan, guys?

Harold Karaka

Woodland Hills

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Bill Shaikin nails the Angels’ season in one sentence: “If the team has not quit, perhaps it is simply not good enough.” Even with all the injuries, the talent hasn’t been there since day one. It’s not the manager’s fault. It’s not the GM’s fault. The finger points to a guy who had the best intentions, bet the farm on the wrong players and tapped himself out of any chance to build a winner. “A” for effort, Arte, but you won’t like the rest of the report card.

Jim Fredrick

Manhattan Beach

The Blues

Kudos to Dylan Hernandez for squarely placing blame for the Dodgers’ mediocrity with former boy genius Andrew Friedman, who incessantly tinkers with the 25th man on the roster instead of bringing in known quantities. Bud Norris? Really? The Dodgers are his fourth team in the last 1 ½ years.

Jeff Green

Long Beach

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With Clayton Kershaw on the disabled list, at least Dodger fans won’t be able to watch him not pitch on TV.

Jake Tauber

Woodland Hills

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Looks like Donnie Baseball is alive and well in Miami. Has anyone in L.A. noticed his team is currently battling for the division lead in the East as well as having three players hitting over .300 and in the top 10 in the National League? Coincidence? I think not.

Perhaps the Dodger brass did not appreciate his teaching and managerial talents enough just because he failed to lead them to a World Series. Wouldn’t it be something if Miami got there before the Dodgers?

Dennis Lifton

Cypress

Women’s game

Bill Plaschke is 100% correct in his lost opportunity regarding women’s basketball and wrote about it eloquently. Him being a sportswriter and having the means to cover sports and to be blinded by what is popular and gets headlines is sad. The women’s teams in a lot of sports locally have done very well but get very little press coverage. Having only a daughter and being a big sports fan myself, I truly enjoy the women’s sports.

A last-second winning basket or a walk-off home run is just as exciting in a men’s game as it is in a women’s game. Having for many years followed and appreciated women’s sports, I made a point to go to the UCLA women’s basketball game about five years ago when Tennessee came to town with Pat Summit as their head coach. I knew how great a coach she was and this was my opportunity to see greatness. I now treasure that moment even more.

Steve Shaevel

Woodland Hills

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It is such sad news that Pat Summitt is no longer with us. What a legacy she will leave behind. But my story involves how gracious she was with her time the last two times Tennessee was playing at UCLA.

The first time, while she was being interviewed after the win, she had fans line up and signed autographs all during the interview, and after the interview was over. Taking the time to give fans a chance to say hello.

The second time was when her illness was diagnosed, and after the game, while staff were trying to get her off the court, (the game was played at Wooden Center) she refused to go, and stayed on the court to meet and greet those that came out to see her coach.

A class act.

Barry Levy

Hawthorne

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The Times’ articles on Pat Summitt omitted a key detail. For many years, the Tennessee-Connecticut rivalry epitomized excellence in women’s college basketball. After UConn won the recruiting battle with Tennessee over Maya Moore, Summit ended this series of games.

For those Southern Californians who might be unfamiliar with women’s basketball, her decision would be tantamount to canceling the USC/Notre Dame football rivalry over recruiting jealousy.

Bob Lentz

Sylmar

Kick him

A message for Argentina’s Lionel Messi:

Pick up your phone. Call the Cleveland Cavaliers. They’re a professional basketball organization here in the U.S. Ask to speak to a Mr. LeBron James.

Discuss the subject of quitting.

Cy Bolton

Rancho Cucamonga

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When his country and national team needed him most, The Great Lionel Messi took his penalty kick. And missed. By a lot. It’s like missing the ocean from a rowboat. And then he did what every great player does after he fails. He quit. Talk of “Greatest Of All Time”? Please.

Marcelo Barreiro

Manhattan Beach

Taking a shot

In the article “Trigger Issue” on Tuesday, Olympic skeet shooting champion Kim Rhode and Kevin Neuendorf, a spokesman for USA Shooting, both complain that unwelcome attention is directed to them and their sport whenever a mass shooting, such as San Bernardino or Orlando, hits the news. The article also states that the “push for stricter gun laws is another concern,” suggesting that stricter gun regulation would somehow limit Olympic shooters’ access to sufficient practice ammunition and replacement weapons when their shotguns, rifles and pistols wear out from heavy use.

The idea that the types of sensible gun regulation being currently advocated by President Obama, requiring universal background checks and limiting military-type assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, would somehow limit an Olympian’s ability to buy shotgun shells and a new shotgun to replace one that wore out, is simply silly.

Rather than wring their hands over the unwanted scrutiny on their sport that accompanies mass shootings, or worry that gun legislation is somehow aimed at their sport, it would have been wonderful to hear Ms. Rhode and Mr.Neuendorf express not just their sadness for the victims of Orlando but also their support for changes to our laws that might well have prevented the Orlando murderer from acquiring his murder weapons without in any way hampering their access to practice rounds or replacement shotguns.

George Legg

Rolling Hills Estates

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Jay L. Clendenin’s photo of Kim Rhode is a stunner: her expression, the puff of smoke, the matching reds of the shotgun shells and her shirt. The video on your site shows off her incredible speed and accuracy, but your photographer captures a perfect moment of quiet power and control. Beautifully done, and made me delighted to read the paper this morning.

Ryan Tranquilla

Los Angeles

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