Danny Green says Lakers players can feel ownership uncertainty

The Lakers’ ownership drama isn’t happening entirely above the players’ heads. At least not according to Danny Green.

Green, the former Lakers guard who now works as an analyst for Spectrum SportsNet, believes players notice when there is uncertainty surrounding the people running the franchise.

“I think it matters,” Green said on Byron Scott‘s Fast Break, via Lakers Nation. “Of course it matters when you’re playing. I’m still around the team, I still work with the team with Spectrum SportsNet, so I’m there.”

Green said the uncertainty can be noticeable even without players becoming directly involved.

“You can feel a difference, even in the media and aura around the building, the organization,” he said. “So yeah, it matters, but in the same breath, you just want things, whatever is going on, to be handled smoothly and you just hope for the best outcome.”

Smoothly probably isn’t the word anyone would use at the moment.

The Lakers are undergoing another ownership transition, while Jeanie Buss remains locked in a legal dispute with her siblings over their family’s remaining stake in the franchise.

Green admitted he never expected to see the Buss family relinquish control.

“I never thought that the Buss family would give it up,” he said. “It’s kind of a crazy turnaround that it’s been given up twice already in the last two years.”

Ultimately, Green said players want owners who care about more than the investment.

“You just want owners that are in this league that care about the game and not just about making a buck,” he said. “The owners that actually want to be around, be at the games, care to build their teams, and put money in the team.”

That’s something Lakers players probably care considerably more about than who wins the next court hearing.