It has been almost three years since Jim Buss pledged in an interview to step down from his role in basketball operations with the Los Angeles in “three or four years” if they were not “contending for a championship.”  

Jim Buss said last week he “wasn’t referring to a certain playoff position” and that the deadline “really wasn’t as clear as people say it is.”

“This was quotes from three or four years ago,” he said. “Those were what the path was supposed to be.”

Jim Buss said injuries and the farewell tour of Kobe Bryant detailed Jeanie Buss' otherwise reasonable expectations. Buss runs the front office with Mitch Kupchak.

“If I feel that the strides have been made,” Jim Buss said, “and the team is going in a very positive – not just a positive direction – a very positive direction, I don’t see a switch happening.”

Jeanie Buss said as recently as February that anything less than the second round of the playoffs would be falling short.

“We’re like every other team that we will play a season and we will assess that season when it’s over,” Jeanie Buss said. “No reason to speculate on any possible changes. It’s a waste of time to speculate.”