That was the plan that I understood.. Afterwards, I had to go to the hospital for three days. My relationship with him, I think, became so close as Id try to explain to him how important each position was and what you would expect from those different positions, and how theyd fit. Dr. Buss saw the Lakers becoming something, more of an entertainment value than just a sports value, and the league has adopted, to a large degree, that same mentality. He was a very well-rounded person. That team experienced dynastic characteristics. with JoAnn Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "JoAnn Buss", "gender": "Female" }, Joey Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Joey Buss", "gender": "Male" }, born 1985, age 37 (approx.) Ex-partner of Private Then in his third season owning the team, they ended up calling them the Laker Girls, and established a dance team. On February 14, 2013, it was revealed that Jerry had been battling cancer since the year before and four days later, he passed away at age 80. There was no question about that. Hed get a chuckle out of it, and a lot of satisfaction. privacy policy | EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Jerry Buss' children intend on carrying out their father's succession plan for the Los Angeles Lakers following the iconic owner's death Monday. That was his vision. Magics mom was a Seventh Day Adventist, and they have similar dietary restrictions as Muslims, and she was aware of my faith, so she would cook for me and take care of me when I was on the road and wed cut through and play in Detroit. Hed say, Jeanie, the Lakers are what connects the community, and when theyre not winning, then were not being part of the community. Its almost like the Lakers are owned by the fans. We had growth within our own team, like Andrew Bynum, to go with Kobe and Lamar. People knew him. LOVIN' IT! Dr. Buss told me how (Stone) came up with the title. Not much is known about Johnnys early life or educational background. Hed ask me a lot of questions about how we played, what I thought and so forth. The Lakers had literally won the championship a few minutes earlier, but my dad couldnt stop raving that I had 25 points, 16 rebounds and 5 blocks in my AAU game. If some of Buss children or his ex-wife did want to sell, they would have to overcome some obstacles. He, with his real estate background, realized that people would pay just like for a house on the beach. When Jack Kent Cooke sold the Lakers, the Kings, the Forum and a 13,000-acre ranch in Kern County, Jerry Buss met him at an office in Palos Verdes. He had a 66 percent stake in the team when he died, and judging by the trust he set up years ago to hold the ownership stake, it has long been his intention to keep the Lakers in the Buss family. When Earvin announced he was HIV positive, it was a tough day. I said, Were trying to repeat, and I know you love winning championships, and a key piece of that is Lamar Odom. It was this big weight had been taken off of his back. We were just sitting there talking, and that was a pretty special moment. Not just the owner-player, employer-employee relationship. The NBA wasnt like what it is today at that time. Buss, who was 80 when he died of. The . He was a master at dealing with people, a genius businessman, and really just as good with people as he was with business. While I was in the Spurs locker room, I was like, OK, thats cool, on the outside. Announced as a member of the 2010 induction class of the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 5, 2010, he was formally enshrined as a contributor to the sport on August 13 of that same year. He has put the Lakers right up there with the New York Yankees as the top brands in sports. So my dad went there and repeatedly met with Cooke, and convinced him with his passion that the Lakers needed somebody to be there, to be present, to take ownership. But Buss was wise to plan early for the team and make his wishes specific and legally binding. Buss, a few years ago you mentioned the lights is this what you had in mind? He said, This is exactly what I had in mind. Dr. Buss was a big Broadway guy. A prayer was held on Tuesday, February 28th 2023 at 9:45 AM at the St. John Lutheran Church (701 N 6th St, Beatrice, NE 68310). I never had a relationship like this, and nor did he. Because the Lakers threw everything into the pot, anticipating and hoping to be able to acquire Shaq. He was always sitting behind the bench during games and was such a basketball junkie, he just loved being around. From my standpoint, when I got in, Magic had been in the league for a few years and they were really close. Having him around, you always felt support. When I retired, I had a chance to watch some games with him. There was no secondary market, but he knew that he was leaving money on the table and he was under indexing for certain price points. Id run into him in Los Angeles at various places and said hello. She became the Lakers governor in 2014 after her father's death and is now the representative of the team on the NBA board of governors. So that was an awkward couple of days. Theyll like this! 3 reviews. And then when I came down to Miami, it was a whole new world for me down here. 1 overall pick in the 1979 NBA Draft. Some of it is a blur, but thats what I remember. All the other times, wed go to Las Vegas. I asked, What did Kobe think, and my dad had talked to Kobe on the phone, and Kobe said, Yeah, I can win with this dude. We had the injury to Andrew and Trevor Ariza that year and ran into the Celtics in the Finals, but we showed big improvement from the year before, and ended up winning the next two years. During the Finals in Philly in 2001, we would get cheesesteaks before the games. Thats another way we connected. It wasnt owner-player, it was two guys hanging out. Create a franchise that was worth billions., Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli. Wed talk about business. Dr. Buss was there, and Earvins family was there, and it was just very special. My biggest concern was being traded every year. An alumnus of Northwestern University and Arcadia High School, she has written about everything from high school sports to college football to boat racing during the past 15 years. And the level of intensity at practice rose instantly with his appearance in the gym. He was really a very nice guy who enjoyed the fun things in life. So he lined things up, and Id get samples, and wed talk it through, and hed say, Oh! It was a remarkable experience that Ill remember forever. For him to give me that 1-on-1, personal treatment considering where I stood on the team that was treatment I thought hed give Kobe or Shaq. He said, Oh yeah, thats my building! and I said, Well, thats great, maybe I can get free rent or something like that! But I do remember that there was this zest and this absolute excitement and enthusiasm that he had when he bought the Lakers and he became the owner. It was an important economic trend, another thing that he identified, and brought the NBA into more prominence. We never had any problems to talk about, except for any games that we might lose. So that was one of the things I noticed about him. I was a senior in high school, and my dad would explain it to us kids like, Could you imagine to going to every Laker game? Magic was way ahead of the game, and now Kobe Bryant and LeBron James and some of these guys have been (following in those footsteps) in business. He didnt walk around with a big hammer. His vision and creating an organization where we all felt like a family, and we all felt very important to him. He was doing it because it was truly his passion. So he went to Jerry West, and said, weve got to get somebody to come and get us back to winning. I saw how he would be able to rebuild a team quickly to get back to contender status. He loved to calculate how much time it would take us to get places, and what time wed have to leave by to arrive on time. He wanted to make sure that the Lakers, what hed created with the winning, and what they meant to the community, would continue. Jerry was confident that it was going to happen, said Jerrys longtime friend and spokesman Bob Steiner to The Sun Sentinel. He absolutely loved it, because Jesse would know every single stat about every single player. Today, you cant. I remember being at the Forum in Inglewood in 1985 in my rookie year, meeting Dr. Buss and him saying Lets have lunch one day. Time goes by until you decide, Im going to take him up on that. So we arranged a lunch, midweek after a practice, and went up to his office, and we had a real, genuine, 1-on-1 conversation talking about life itself outside of basketball. It's always been about putting it back into the team.. That book opened up a whole world up to me about the founding fathers. He had a home in San Diego, where I live, and we used to go to training camp in Hawaii just about every year, and a couple times we were on the same flight heading over from San Diego. Never embarrassed anybody. He was just a very good man. We wanted it so bad. Im sitting there wondering what the hell is going on. I gave him Jerrys number. After a brief stint in the aerospace industry, Buss began working as a professor at the University of Southern California in the Chemistry department. Its just him! His dream was to own the Lakers, my dream was just to be a part of it, and we became part of a team that goes down in history, and then he built another one when he got Shaq and Kobe. He ran the WNBAs Los Angeles Sparks while the family still owned the team. We were so confident. It wasnt like I was negotiating for a contract, or I was currently playing, or he was looking for any ideas about other players. Source: Los Angeles Times, Lakers expected to remain a Buss family-owned team, Mike Bresnahan, Feb. 19, 2013. And then Id go home. It wasnt an accident, and the Laker brand exploded. It was weird timing, because Kobe was during that time also unhappy and there were stories of him potentially getting traded, or being able to move on from L.A., and then looking for a different situation. The 10-part documentary series, which is set to premiere with two episodes on Monday, Aug. 15, will detail the rise of the Lakers after Buss' purchase of the franchise. The bigger, the bolder, the better. Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss was born on Jan. 27, 1933, in Salt Lake City. The importance of saying "I love you" during COVID-19, Effective ways of dealing with the grieving process, Solutions to show your sympathy safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. He currently resides in the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. You could say he and Steinbrenner were the first to grow probably bigger than the franchise. Youre going too fast. He treated people with respect. When he bought the Forum, it was called the Forum. With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Betty Jean Buss of Beatrice, Nebraska, who passed away on February 23, 2023 at the age of 79. And he had an ability to let Bill Sharman, Jerry West, Pete Newell make important decisions that he didnt have the background to make. HRH King Charles III. When Jack Kent Cooke sold the Lakers, the Kings, the Forum and a 13,000-acre ranch in Kern County, Jerry Buss met him at an office in Palos Verdes. The sports executive is the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jerry was soft spoken, he had a great charm about him, and was just a unique person who believed in me for a long time, and I dont think in my life Ive ever had anybody who was as straight forward with me as him. Dr. Buss was incredibly intuitive and in touch with the fans from a business standpoint. She was predeceased by : her husband Gerald Buss; her sons, Phil Buss and Chris Buss; her parents, Ehme Busboom and Jennie Busboom (Ideus); her siblings, Rosie Miller and Gerald Busboom; her siblings-in-law, Barbara Wrightsman (Don) and Robert Schoen; and her parents-in-law, Herman and Alvina Buss. Buss said that. But Jerry West and Jerry Buss nurtured me, they mentored me. It wasnt out of fear, it was out of respect, that players wanted to play hard for him. And so, I had to trust him. And while his relationship with his siblings is strained, he shares with them a reverence for their father. Playing for him was one of the best highlights of my life. The Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal tandem brought three more titles in the early 2000s. Theres always former Lakers around. He was just really conscious of people around him and respected people that worked for him. When I wanted to get into the theatre business, he was the one who connected me with everybody. My first initial meeting I was kind of thrown back, because he didnt seem like an owner. He also served as the President of the Los Angeles Lazers, a professional indoor soccer team, and the Los Angeles Sparks, a professional womens basketball team. I cant imagine coming into the league at 18 in a grown mans world. They didnt sell the naming rights, they (used their name). That was a lesson learned. Wed played pool until 2 or 3 in the morning he loved to play 8 ball, and he was much better than me. Buss later sold the Kings, retaining ownership of the Lakers and The Forum. All these companies want to do business with the Lakers? The $24 million he purchased for the Lakers and Kings would be $95.57 million in today's money. I was just sitting there. A lot of times if I didnt see him in the locker room, we went up to the press room at the Forum, and hed be there. He purchased the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA along with the Los Angeles Kings hockey team of the NHL, The Forum, and a large ranch from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979. In 1978, they moved to the Forum from the Sports Arena, and my dad was a big sports fan, so hed go to Laker games. We talked for about an hour and a half, two hours, and I decided to believe in him, and he believed in me. He understood that I needed that, and I would have been lost out here in this big city. The Lakers are on fire. And thats what Dr. Buss wanted, to create a place where it could be magical, almost like Disneyland. Really cool. So I became obsessed with it, and how that process worked. I know youre going to shoot straight. He would listen to Jerry (West), Phil but then hed get the confirmation from me. So I was just wandering around, and I walked right by this one man who was wearing jeans and maybe an old sports jacket. But Wrigley was also the name of the family who owned the team, and also the name of their chewing gum, Wrigleys Spearmint Gum. He didnt know what the future held, I didnt know what the future held. In the late 1980s, we were living in Encinitas, California, and my father was home with a family friend, and they needed to go watch the Lakers game against Boston, so they locked themselves up in his bedroom. These were special parts of the relationships between our teammates and management and everything. Dr. Jerry Buss was a Wyoming kid with big eyes and a full heart living out his American Dream. Upon his fathers death in 2013, that interest waned even more. If you knew me you would understand Im not about money at all. Thats what he wanted to do in his life. She surprised us doing a great job running the Forum. My dad just figured hed last another 10 years and that Joey and Jesse would start taking over the basketball side and Jimmy would start retiring and that would be it. But once we acquired Shaq and Kobe, we started beating them more often than they were beating us. And quite frankly, I cant remember a time where he made a bad decision. He said, I want you to take me to dinner at this real fancy restaurant with some friends. I said, I cant afford that! A new 10-part docuseries on the family titled Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers details the familys rich history and how Jerry came to own the team. There becomes a bigger trust by an owner, a greater dependency on the people whom youre working closely with. I think that was the only ring that he wore, when we beat Boston the first time. Id just moved up to live with him in Playa Vista in 2006, and late one night after a game he was drinking wine. In 1996-97, after I came back to the Lakers for Kobes rookie year, we didnt see Dr. Buss quite as much. His best finishes included third in the 1991 World Series of Poker seven-card stud event and second place in the 2003 World Poker Tour Freeroll invitational. But when we did speak and get a chance to talk to each other, I thought it was real genuine. Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) February 18, 2013 This is not to say there wont be disagreements. He was very, very friendly, and the door was always open. Thats when I learned, in my life, you can tell a lot about someone with how they treat someone else that can do nothing for them. I was working with Chick Hearn in the broadcast booth, but I remember meeting him at the Forum and had a very, very light discussion about the real estate business, and then I realized I was renting one of his apartments in Santa Monica, he and Frank Mariani. Wed sit around, wed talk. Buss had four children with his wife, JoAnn Mueller: Johnny, Jim, Jeanie and Janie. Very casual. He was in great spirits, it was great talking, he still had his sense of humor. He then earned a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Southern California. He just really capped it off and said what we all were thinking. It was like family. I had always wanted to know, How did you work the deal with Magic to sign him to a 25-year, 25-million-dollar contract? And he gave me how easy it was, how he took this and put it in an annuity somewhere else, and so on. It was cool knowing that he appreciated those little things, that effort. Hed always end the discussion with something like, Mitch, thats my opinion but youre the expert and Ill trust your judgment. Now, the one thing that was unique about him, if it ever involved numbers, I never saw him ever write anything down or calculate anything in shorthand or with a calculator or anything like that. It was California Pizza Kitchen wed always order out and wed meet for a couple of hours. I just think he did a great job with the opportunity that he had, and his vision has really benefitted the game. I dont remember a whole lot about the podium when Dr. Buss accepted the championship, but I do remember that Kareem stuck a towel in Pat Rileys mouth so he wouldnt say wed win it again next year. Previously, she spent six years covering football, first for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla., then the Houston Chronicle and ESPN. But do note that it is not possible to be certain of a person's genealogy without a family's cooperation (and/or DNA testing). We all felt very comfortable around him because he treated us all as human beings. One of his favorite comments always used to be, Aint nothin like winning! So thats one of my vivid memories. He loved plays, and he wanted the focus to be on the athletes and the court. After I took the job with the Knicks, Dr. Buss called me on the phone and asked if I was in L.A., and he wanted to have dinner with (my wife) Chris and I. It was nice working for him. In 1999-2000, we got to the Western Finals against Portland, which was absolutely exciting. I first met him at Muhammad Alis retirement party at the Forum. You understood the genius of this man, because youre dealing with a guy whos just on a different plane. It is believed to be correct at the time of inputting and is presented here in good faith. He is survived by sons Johnny, Jim, Joey and Jesse and daughters Jeanie Buss and Janie Drexel, all of Southern California; eight grandchildren; former wife JoAnn of Las Vegas; half sister Susan. He loved to jump on it. Id never encountered somebody with that type of money and power to be so easy to talk to. From online or printed sources and from publicly accessible databases. There was a lot of worry on the part of Jerry West. Buss also received Cooke's ranch in California, which was valued at $10 million. They all mean a lot, but some mean a little bit more than others. And teams like the Spurs were getting guys late in the first round that were contributors. It wasnt even close. I thought he was kidding. And guess what, a few months later, it ended up happening, and our paths crossed and we had an incredible run and were able to win championships. It wasnt that I was around Dr. Buss that much that I had to rely on him for something, but when you were around him damn he made you feel good. This is the way owners should operate. Thats the kind of guy you want to partner with. It was probably the only time I felt really stressed with the Lakers. Very few. He got a big kick out of that, and by the fourth season, he won. He really looked at it as entertainment. Buss always referred to the Lakers as his extended family, and his players rewarded his fanlike excitement with devotion, friendship and two hands full of championship rings. with JoAnn Buss Jeanie Buss born 1961, age 61 (approx.) So when you talk about him not being a person who would yell or be a tyrant or throw things to motivate, he was a teacher, and he knew how to motivate people. Wed watch Lakers games together before he bought the team, and all hed talk about was, Someday Im gonna own that team. And (a couple of years later) he did. Rattling off 10 championships before his passing in 2013. Image. He just said he was going to get (expletive) done. I didnt think we were going to get a chance to draft Kobe. Such a meaningful and historical figure to all of us that who love this game and this League. Well, at that time, Jack Kent Cooke was going through a divorce, and he moved to Nevada to establish residency in order to process his divorce as a citizen of Nevada, which had different settlement laws. Joey Buss accepts the Larry O'Brien Trophy from David Stern, Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson, Dr. Jerry Buss, and Phil Jackson. But now I realize, you actually really know your (stuff)! Then he started asking for my opinion on things. Let the women be the show, get the attention. It was a nice event, because hed ask every player and every coach to say a few words, and it was a nice atmosphere. In the 1990s, basketball was a little different, and it took a team to win the title; it wasnt put the best players on the court, it was all about teamwork and chemistry, and we were building towards that. Im this young guy out of UCLA, and when you first meet him coming into the locker room, and he comes to shake your hand, theres no greater form of nervousness in this town at that point in time. Obviously, Kobe was able to do that with the help of the franchise. After a family feud, Jim resigned from the Buss Family Trusts and the Board of directors but is still seemingly a part-owner of the franchise. Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson, Jerry Buss, and Phil Jackson Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Lakers Center (1975-89) 6X Champion, 2X Finals MVP, 6X MVP, 19X All-Star, Hall of Fame He always treated me very. Buss also owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California. And thats what Dr. Buss did. He was a little bit more military stylistic of leadership than Jerry was. With 10 NBA championships under his belt, Jerry was the single most decorated owner in sports history. Before the championships from 2000-02, as an adolescent, it was very frustrating watching the Lakers lose in the playoffs. When the deal was complete that Dr. Buss bought the Lakers, we had lunch, and we hung out for the whole weekend. Here are the tributes to Betty Jean Buss. 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