Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has agreed a multi-year contract extension, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
The new contract structure runs through 2026, sources said.
The Lakers ownership group, led by Jeanie Buss, strongly believes in management and coaches who are in line with one vision. Pelinka’s contract will now expire at the same time as first-year head coach Darvin Ham, who signed a four-year contract.
Pelinka, 52, has been with the Lakers since 2017 as general manager and was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in 2020.
In his first full season as GM, the Lakers signed LeBron James as a free agent in the summer of 2018. Building around James became a priority, and the following summer, the Lakers executed a three-team trade that brought Anthony Davis to Los Angeles.
Just a year later, the two led the Lakers to the 2020 NBA championship in the Orlando bubble.
James and Davis signed extensions later that year, while James signed the Lakers’ second extension of the summer. Pelinka is the only GM to have extended James twice.
Pelinka wants James to retire as a Laker and has pledged to provide the resources needed to compete for additional titles.
The Lakers signed for Ham earlier this year and acquired Patrick Beverley in a swap this summer.
Los Angeles Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, right, speaks with head coach Darvin Ham before a pre-season game in Las Vegas on October 6, 2022. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
