LOS ANGELES — The Lakers underwent a round of layoffs on Wednesday, affecting multiple departments across the franchise, multiple sources familiar with the situation confirmed to the Southern California News Group.
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Team employees in communications, content, partnerships and other departments were part of Wednesday’s layoffs, totaling more than a dozen people, a source familiar with the layoffs told SCNG.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin was the first to report news of the layoffs.
Since Mark Walter officially became majority owner of the franchise in October, buying the franchise at a $10 billion valuation from the Buss family, the organization has evolved as fresh faces from across town have entered the room.
Lon Rosen, who had served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Dodgers since 2012, replaced Tim Harris as the president of business operations. Walter and Rosen have since brought in Ryan Kantor as vice president of global partnerships, Jessica Park as director of global partnerships, and Michael Spetner as chief strategy and growth officer among other new additions to the franchise.
Kantor, Park and Spetner formerly worked for the Dodgers under Rosen. Walter, who is the Lakers’ controlling owner while Jeanie Buss continues to serve as governor, is the chairman of Guggenheim Baseball Management, the consortium that owns the Dodgers.
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On the basketball side, input from the Dodgers has been notable as well. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and special advisor Farhan Zaidi have had a role in the reorganization of the Lakers’ front office, which has included President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka hiring two assistant general managers beneath him during the offseason.
“I think both organizations are gonna learn from each other,” Rosen said in an interview with local media on Feb. 24, days after his hiring. “I don’t know where it’s all gonna fall. People say, ‘The Dodgers are this gold standard.’ And you know what, we do a really nice job there. And the job (with the Lakers) is, I’ve been to a lot of games here. I know their business model is very successful, so I just gotta make sure I don’t mess it up.”
The Lakers hired the first of their assistant GMs on Tuesday, when they tapped former New Orleans Pelicans executive Rohan Ramadas to become the franchise’s assistant GM of strategy and data systems. The second assistant GM hire will be focused on scouting, the draft and player development, Pelinka said at his end-of-season press conference two weeks ago.
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