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Sources: Lakers extend Pelinka amid promotion

Afnews Editor

Jan 11, 2020

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7:32 PM ET

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Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka has agreed to a multiyear contract extension, league sources told ESPN.

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The Lakers announced Friday that they had promoted Pelinka to the VP title, and sources say that included the negotiation of an extension onto the original five-year deal Pelinka signed in 2017.

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Pelinka had been hired as the GM under former president Magic Johnson, who resigned in April. Pelinka has played a role in calming the tumult surrounding the Lakers in the aftermath of Johnson's departure and moving the franchise back into the elite of the NBA.

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In successive offseasons with Pelinka as GM, the Lakers acquired two superstars -- LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- who have played the biggest roles in elevating the Lakers to championship contention.

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Pelinka's hiring of Frank Vogel as head coach and the addition of role players including Danny Green and Dwight Howard have so far played a significant part in the Lakers' current status as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.

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"Well certainly I'm happy for him," Vogel said before his team beat the Dallas Mavericks 129-114 on the road Friday. "Obviously he was under fire when I took the job. And a lot of it undeserved.

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I admire the fact that through all of that, he's really just stuck to doing the work, committing to the work and making great decisions. And he not only assembled a great roster, he really rebuilt a whole department when you look at hiring the medical team and changes to his scouting staff, the head-coaching hire was a brilliant one obviously, but the entire coaching staff, [too]. All those things he's done, he's just done a great job with that, and my relationship is just fantastic.

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It's a great working relationship. We collaborate. He gives me a lot of feedback.

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A lot of ways to move the needle. And he listens to me. So we're off to a great start."

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Pelinka signed a five-year contract as GM in 2017, leaving a successful career as a player agent. His clients had included Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

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"I think people should really sing Rob's praises a lot," Bryant said on Showtime's "All The Smoke" series this week. "Because they were killing him.

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... Being able to stay the course.

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And Rob and I have talked about that stuff. When he and I talk, we don't talk about this move or that move, it's more so him as a friend.

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It's just saying, 'Rob, you've been there with me. Now it's just you going through it.

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You know how we handle it, it's you just stay the course.' All this storm is going on and you just stay here -- just do your job, do your job, do your job, do your job.

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"But man, I mean what he's done with that team in two years? From the contracts that they once had and were tied up to what they have on this roster now? I mean, they're the biggest team that I've probably ever seen. Their length, speed, old-school big, tough, tough, athleticism. So, they look fantastic."

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ESPN's Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.

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