Buss dismisses Kobe fans mad at LeBron joining L.A.: 'They're not Laker fans'

Jeanie Buss has a message to the Los Angeles Lakers' faithful who are angry about the arrival of LeBron James.

"They're not Laker fans if they're not happy with LeBron joining the team," the controlling owner of the Lakers said on Wednesday during an interview with Rich Eisen on "The Rich Eisen Show."

Among those who have taken umbrage with the signing of James, a principal issue appears to be a loyalty to retired Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. James has often been compared and contrasted to Bryant in a decade-long debate about the league's top player.

Despite Bryant's retirement at the conclusion of the 2015-16 season, those old partisan lines seem to run deep, which was highlighted when multiple murals celebrating the acquisition of James were vandalized.

"There was some unrest and some uneasiness, and I just think those are troublemakers that don't get it," Buss said of the negative reaction. "Los Angeles is going to be very proud of the way that LeBron will represent the Lakers team and they're going to fall in love with him too."

Buss also laughed off unsubstantiated rumors that Bryant, now 39 years old, would ever come out of retirement to play alongside James.

"(Kobe) always has an open door to anything he wants to do with the Lakers," she said.

"I think his wife Vanessa would kill me if I said that," Buss added. "But like I said, Kobe can do anything in my book."