Glassdoor ranks LA Lakers as “Best Small Business”
The workplace review behemoth released its “Best Small Businesses to Work For in 2020” list with a surprising leader. The Los Angeles Lakers rocketed to the top of the list in 2020 after being unranked in the small business category the previous year. The franchise was able to clinch the coveted top spot after the SBA unexpectedly reclassified the organization as a small business during their review of LAL’s Paycheck Protection Program loan application. The Lakers would ultimately return the $4.6 million they received from the PPP to “give back to the community and help out other small businesses in greater need of financial assistance.” However, their small business classification has curiously persisted even after returning their loan.
Here are some highlights from the Lakers’ Glassdoor page:
Pros:
- Coworkers with LeBron James (kinda).
- Owner is Jeanie Buss.
- Magic Johnson sometimes comes to work, but he mostly “works from home.”
- Great benefits: Annual employee lottery to win tickets to a home summer league game, 10 whole personal days a year (including holidays), and dental insurance provided by facilities management.
- Great mission: “To win championships and rub the Clippers’ noses in it.” We have this on a bunch of plaques around the Staples Center, very inspirational and motivating. The Clippers staff doesn’t appreciate it too much.
- Great camaraderie. This year we had our first franchise pizza party when we signed Anthony Davis. Weeks later, we had our first two days of company mandated self-flagellation for our failure to sign Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. I’ll tell ya, you don’t know your coworkers until you are bent over, side by side, and drawing blood with your company issued cat o’ nine tails. That’s just the way things are around here. We take every loss to heart and never let any win go to our head. Unless it’s over the Clippers.
Cons
- No more Magic Johnson, he was a lot of fun when he decided to show up.
- Owner is Jeanie Buss.
- Franchise shares an office building with a toxic organization. You sometimes have to take a shower to fully rid yourself of the defeatism that emanates from the Clippers side of the Staples Center. They’ve gotten a little cheeky since they signed Kawhi and Paul George. It’s been unbearable. I hope we sweep them in the playoffs. I would place an order for 10,000 brooms to be delivered to their office the next day.
- Unclear management structure, not sure who is really calling the shots. Obviously Jeanie owns the team, but there are lots of people in her ear. Sometimes it’s LeBron and his camp, other times it’s Kurt and Linda Rambis, occasionally its Pelinka. Just wish our direction was a bit more consistent, instead of constantly changing.
- Playing in the Western Conference is brutal; we would dominate in the East. Honestly, we should pull a Memphis and join our opposite geographical conference. Switch us with the Hawks or something. No one would even notice.
- Desk has been sticky since I started working here. Every year I have request a new desk and every year management has told me they don’t have the funds. This year I finally got a new desk and it was even stickier than my original desk. I’m baffled.
