His father, Lydus, left the family when Jerry was an infant. Hes probably one of the best owners in the history of the NBA. It wasnt even in my mind. That's why, when I created this new uniform, I wanted people to see that. This was before smart phones, so there was no cheating. 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. Jerry Buss bought the Los Angeles Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979. Clutch and going to meet everybody. And after a few bad games, hed send his driver to me after the game and say, Hey Ill be picking you up tomorrow at 6 p.m., and wed go sit down and have dinner. A few times a year, especially if Dr. Buss traveled with the team, wed sit down and hed ask my opinion about certain things with the team, which I really appreciated his confidence in me. 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. 5 stars - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 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. The trade was difficult for me, obviously at that moment. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. His succession plan had daughter Jeanie assume his previous title as the Lakers' governor as well as its team representative at NBA Board of Governors meetings. His first son did not want to carry on his love for basketball, his love for sports the way he wanted.. I dont drive fancy cars. How he figured out our monetary system, the Coast Guard, customs, the first inspector general of the Army ridiculous. 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. I expect too much from the players, and the way I interact with players is terrible, its not who I am and I dont want to do it. Jerry Buss has six children, one of whom is Jeanie Buss. Having played, and then him talking about little things inside of basketball, subtle things that you knew he wasnt just an owner up entertaining people during the games. Because the Lakers threw everything into the pot, anticipating and hoping to be able to acquire Shaq. Between 2006 and 2011, Id see him when I was coaching, and wed reflect on memories. That was my reaction. Rookie owner, rookie player and we did it. Not making quick decisions, rushing into things. Hed play his cards. That was really kind of troubled times for us as a franchise, and I didnt think they were doing whatever it took to win, and passed on some really good deals to get top players in. Some owners look at it like a business, only. And he said, I have one suggestion for you, Tim: Its really bright in here. I said, It is. The $24 million he purchased for the Lakers and Kings would be $95.57 million in today's money. He would do math tricks when we were going places all the time. By age 46, Jerry and his business partner, Frank Mariani, turned that million into a real-estate empire in multiple states that was worth an estimated $350million. He was like, The contract is good. Have you ever seen anybody win the lottery? He said, I want to do something for you for what youve done over the 1980s. I was just an assistant coach, with that kind of contract. Through his 80th birthday on January 27, 2013, he had not attended a Lakers game during the 201213 season due to health concerns. Im glad it turned out that way. 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. Not only evidenced by his 10 NBA Championships but also from his sports marketing successes such as creating a regional sports network, establishing the first-ever NBA dance squad, "The Laker Girls," and, of course, designing the VIP row featuring the "Jack Nicholson" seats. He and I would sit there drinking rum and cokes, talking about strategy, talking about the game. MORE:How to watch Lakers documentary on Hulu. So I played in San Antonio for about 4.5 months and had no idea the Lakers were interested in me. He then reached a major advertising agreement with Great Western Bank for the naming rights to The Forum, resulting in the official name of the building being changed to the Great Western Forum. Im not going to tell them what trade to make. His vision really helped make these moments possible. It wasnt out of fear, it was out of respect, that players wanted to play hard for him. He always wanted to make his family feel important, and he showed that in many different ways. And I remember after Game 7 of the 2010 Finals against Boston, down on the court amongst all the fanfare, Dr. Buss and I huddled up a little bit and kind of smiled. Dr. Buss said how proud he was of us to be there in the Finals, and it was just a nice moment. I miss him a lot. Therefore, viewers must be curious to find out whether Buss sons ended up working with the LA Lakers. Because every family member of the Buss family Ive ever met knows how to treat people. The love of his life was the Lakers and his kids. This was like brothers. He was an incredibly brilliant person, but he had great heart and caring for the people around him. Thats what he wanted to do in his life. I get this call, and (am told) Dr. Buss wants to see you. He had Hugh Hefner come with all the girls, and then I invited Michael Jackson. However, that changes in the season finale as Buss wishes to bring more family members into the new family business. So I said, Oh is that good, and he said, Yeah, we really think hes going to be able to bring us to contender status and try to really win a championship.. He was a very special man to me. In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established to St. John Lutheran Church and Cottonwood Hospice both in Beatrice and Gold Crest Center in Adams. And I remember a nice gesture from him, when I signed my extension during my third year, and I had to have a back surgery. 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. Daniel's 5th outing as Bond gets bums back on seats in the cinema. After the proposal set forth by Johnny, Jim and their attorneys failed, the two brothers resigned as trustees of the Buss Family Trusts and as members of the board of directors. We actually ended up making an offer, and then taking the offer off the table, because it still was not acceptable. I sense that youre deferring to these guys a little bit. Back in those days you could actually raise your voice to players and theyd understand. It was nice working for him. It was a great relationship for a number of years. And quite frankly, I cant remember a time where he made a bad decision. Then he started to go to Italy for a month. Just go out there and play. The UK's supply crisis puts extra pressure on Prime Minister Boris. Theyll like that! Bit by bit, hed put his personal love in every selection and make sure that at least during the Holidays, all the people that meant something to him got something meaningful. Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss was born on Jan. 27, 1933, in Salt Lake City. And I remember I was working as a scout when my dad called and let me know about us acquiring Pau Gasol. He taught us that we should do our best to be happy, and do things that make us happy; whether or not that was basketball was up to us. I dont think theres any thrill in it. In 1999-2000, we got to the Western Finals against Portland, which was absolutely exciting. We all felt very comfortable around him because he treated us all as human beings. But now I realize, you actually really know your (stuff)! Then he started asking for my opinion on things. Thats what he basically said. He was thinking of Kobe. He did not yell and scream at me. I didnt really have an agent at the time. Never embarrassed anybody. with JoAnn Buss Joey Buss born 1985, age 37 (approx.) 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. But I have to do it.. Theres not going to be a 7th game. It wasnt even close. Later on in the day, Dr. Buss was having a picnic for all his employees. It was very personal with him. So that was an awkward couple of days. It really became overwhelming to see just how much he put into seeing every single little detail of that trade. It was a father/son environment. The Western playoffs were predictable, and we won pretty easily*. [1], Born in Salt Lake City and raised in Kemmerer, Wyoming, Buss was raised by his divorced mother, Jessie. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10 league championships that were highlighted by the team's Showtime era during the 1980s. He has appeared in the GSN series High Stakes Poker and the NBC late-night series Poker After Dark. You saw his mannerisms go with every little gyration that was going on. 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. When the deal was complete that Dr. Buss bought the Lakers, we had lunch, and we hung out for the whole weekend. 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. It wasnt like I was negotiating for a contract, or I was currently playing, or he was looking for any ideas about other players. *In the 2004 Finals, Detroit beat L.A. 4-1. His daughter, Jeanie, took over the Lakers in March 2017. And he really wanted me to listen. He made good observations about the game, and personnel and so forth. Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. He was in the entertainment business. I think Dr. Buss always had a plan in life. When Jerry Buss passed away in 2013, his 66% ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers passed to his six children, with each receiving 11%. He moved to Los Angeles and attended the University of Southern California (USC), where he earned an M.S. But he insisted he never wanted to push out his sister. A teacher doesnt turn off the student with a tone of voice. I was emotionally and mentally exhausted. 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. He had this amazing feel for price sensitivity and value. When I took over, he and I chatted about getting the girls out in the community because the players werent always able to. Donald Trump. We were just talking friend to friend. When we made the decision to move to Staples Center, we had to price the building. With me, he was always classy. After a decade of competitive teams that werent yet contenders, Dr. Buss and Jerry West signed free agent Shaquille ONeal, and traded for teenager Kobe Bryant, in 1996, then eventually brought Phil Jackson in to set up the next run of Lakers championships. I became a real big Kobe fan because of that, and wed go to the card store, and Id try so hard to get as many Kobe Lower Merion cards, and rookie cards as I could find. The entrepreneur, the Doctor. Ex-partner of Private The purchase price, $67.5 million, made it the largest transaction in sports history at that time. I remember the locker room celebration with Dr. Buss after we won Game 6 in L.A., and he was just like the rest of us sitting at the bar just talking and kibitzing. This franchise and that franchise, and we got em. During the Finals in Philly in 2001, we would get cheesesteaks before the games. You could say he and Steinbrenner were the first to grow probably bigger than the franchise. Kind of re-thinking the economics of ticket sales. A lot of good times, and so much success on the court. He always treated me very well. He really thought about things like that, that it was equal opportunity, and if men could be the stars, then women could be the stars too. Then Id add it all up and give a gross potential. He was in the pass, he was in the deflection. Would you like to offer Betty Jean Busss loved ones a condolence message? Jerry was confident that it was going to happen, said Jerrys longtime friend and spokesman Bob Steiner to The Sun Sentinel. Sports ownership. During his induction into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2010, Magic Johnson called Jerry a master at building a team.. Fans could see celebrities sitting along the sidelines, live bands playing music and the famous "Laker Girls" doing their dance routines. 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. And that was pretty special to hear. Dr. Buss was incredible as an owner. He revealed that he wasnt very interested in the familys sports ownership business, and his interest further diminished after his fathers death. You have a right to express yourself. He took a drag of his cigarette, and he said, But when you say management thats me. And he didnt say anything after that. Johnny Buss speaks at a memorial service for his father, Jerry Buss, at the Nokia Theatre on Feb. 21, 2013. (818) 892-7093 / And he had an ability to let Bill Sharman, Jerry West, Pete Newell make important decisions that he didnt have the background to make. My dad could see talent, and he knew how to approach and get the best out of each person. We really hit it off. In the summer of 1986, I had no idea that I was about to be traded to San Antonio. I was just looking at my dad in awe, with how incredible that was. If anybody thought that Johnny or Jeanie or Jimmy or any of his kids could fill his shoes, theyre grandly mistaken, Johnny said. Dont talk about the owner. He was with Brent Musberger after the game with the trophy in his hand, and he was shaking it: This has removed the most odious sentence in the English language It can never again be said that the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics.. The sports executive is the controlling owner and president of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Buss graduated from the University of Wyoming with a bachelor's degree. He was amazing with his connections and who he knew, and now, I just had to put the work in, and I did that. 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 lo and behold, we had won again, in dramatic fashion, and I remember the look in Dr. Busss eye, like, We made the right decision.. Thats how he was. Id run into him in Los Angeles at various places and said hello. I was happy to see the way that Dr. Buss and the franchise stuck by Earvin. He taught me everything. Sources close to the Buss family who arent authorized to speak publicly disputed that. Every day, wed just hang out together between practice sessions. Explore how the celebrity world connects. He loved the players. When they were taking a break, let the women have center stage. Ultimately, one way or another, all four of Jerry Buss sons ended up being associated with the LA Lakers. Jerry Buss Family, Net-Worth, Wiki & Bio.Topic covered in the video:who is jerry buss,How jerry buss. I just remember generations of Lakers have come through this organization, obviously, and the team that we had at the time werent really knowledgeable of the history of the franchise. Dr. Buss is walking around, hes in the (various) rooms, hes hanging out, talking to people, shaking hands. I believe I've accomplished that.". Whos your favorite band? We owned a box at the Forum as a family, so we went to a lot of events, and it was the beginning of him seeing an opportunity and pursuing it with a passion that when you own these kinds of teams, you feel, as an owner, that the team is going to somebody who cares about it as much as you do. I need to say no more. I thought, this is the way it should be. Kurt Rambis doing his usual mischief, (having fun) with Dr. Buss. Buss said this or Dr. He owns The Ice House, a comedy club in Pasadena, California, and has also shown interest in politics. All the while, he inspired fondness and loyalty amongst his family, players, employees and fans. He really was in a lot of ways a mentor, in business, in life and in basketball. Im still not quite sure what possessed him to have me do it that time. 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. Once that game got going, he was into it. Jeanie, Dr. Buss and I spent a lot of time talking about price sensitivity. I gave him Jerrys number. 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. Before the championships from 2000-02, as an adolescent, it was very frustrating watching the Lakers lose in the playoffs. He absolutely loved it, because Jesse would know every single stat about every single player. From then on, I was at his house every weekend during the season, it seemed like. Father of Private; Private; Janie Drexel; Private and Private, Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss (January 27, 1933 February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, real estate investor and chemist. Back then, you could drive in right off the street. I was happy. Hed meet his friends there, and some of his friends were executives at Great Western Bank. So Jerry picked me up at the airport in his 944 Porsche. Then he won another five championships. 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. There becomes a bigger trust by an owner, a greater dependency on the people whom youre working closely with. Donald asks the courts to let him tweet. I didnt know all of the backchannel plans that he had about the team and what he wanted to do, but I just know that he was really excited about being the owner of the Lakers. Having him around, you always felt support. I was a dominant player in Games 2 through 6, and we got over the hump finally. He was a great guy and someone who I really cared about a lot. But Wrigley was also the name of the family who owned the team, and also the name of their chewing gum, Wrigleys Spearmint Gum. We shared a hobby as coin collectors, and Dr. Buss owned some really important coins, and I was aware of that. Most people at that level were pretty standoffish. Im sure he had a lot of things, having just won a championship, a lot of different engagements, but he was reaching out to me. 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. Dr. Buss was the perfect owner to play for. We talked about his vision, and all types of things. 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. We had several specialists look at him, and got a call from the guy at Stanford University, and he said, Im not worried about Ronny dying on the basketball court, I'm worried about Ronny dropping dead walking down the street. At that point, Ronny wasnt at Gonzaga anymore, so they didnt have health insurance for him; we hadnt signed him, so we werent responsible for his healthcare, and he had no personal healthcare insurance. We were just sitting there talking, and that was a pretty special moment. Jeanie was always going to be slated as running the business side for as long as she lived, Johnny said. He was once an heir to his father Jerry Busss kingdom, but insists the sports world never quite interested him. We wouldnt have to spend the midlevel exception; we could try to find midlevel value guys for a fraction of the price. That first one, we went to Palm Springs. I was finally going to join the team I grew up loving in the Bahamas as a kid, from afar. Theres no secret why the Lakers had had so much success under him. site map He was a very, very, very generous man. But when we did speak and get a chance to talk to each other, I thought it was real genuine. All those times we were together, I shared with him, I wanted to be more than just a basketball player. It was a nice event, because hed ask every player and every coach to say a few words, and it was a nice atmosphere. You have to look at me coming in as a rookie, with Hall of Famers like Phil Jackson, Kobe and Shaq, and the history of the Lakers. Now, after we won the title that first year in 1999-2000, Id go back to Dr. Buss to ask for approval of updated price codes, and Id have a document that compared last years price codes to what I was suggesting for the 2000-01 season. After a brief stint in the aerospace industry, Buss began working as a professor at the University of Southern California in the Chemistry department. His vision inspired us and gave us the OK to be, sometimes, and thats pretty cool. (Jerry and JoAnn divorced in 1972.) We won that as a group. Wed come up with Steve Blake and Matt Barnes, and my dad was fully supportive of it, and cleared it with Mitch and Jim, and we ended up signing them. I went there in the morning, and it was rare, because Pau never wakes up in the morning to work out! I walked in and (Dr. Buss) called me over to his table and I sat next to him. One of the things he said is the most important thing about business is just having patience. USC Band. 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. Today, you cant. Jeanie (Buss) was just 19 years old, or 18 years old. I dont think other teams really wanted to deal with us to begin with, and then (that happened). You can be multifaceted. Jeanie Buss, Magic Johnson, Jerry Buss, and Phil Jackson, Lakers celebrate their 1985 Championship over the Celtics. And I offered Vlade Divac to everyone, a starting center. Magic was perfect for that. Explore how the celebrity world connects. If you knew me you would understand Im not about money at all. Then he wanted to work out for us one more time, so Michael Cooper, whod been retired for a year or two, we asked him to come out and participate. An ensuing lawsuit split the family. You dont realize these things until you get my age, that you have these kinds of people, that theyre not just your boss. Dr. Buss was there with us. Dr. Buss had a way of communicating with everybody, whether you were 18 or 80, Dr. Buss could make you feel comfortable. Every championship, wed go celebrate away from everybody. He was going to build a championship team no matter what it takes. So I came to this park, and I was with Jerry West and somebody from the Lakers front office, and I got disconnected from my hosts. During those years, we would always go to Hawaii for training camp, and Dr. Buss would really enjoy when wed have a team dinner at the beginning of camp at Kobes Japanese Steak House. Once they got on the floor, they seemed to be able to put all that behind them and do what they needed to do. Her father, Jerry Buss, had died in February 2013 at age 80, . That was a big thing for both of us. My dad started incorporating Joey and I more after we won the back-to-back titles, and we had the mid-level exception in the summer, and he asked who we liked. Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss was born on Jan. 27, 1933, in Salt Lake City. He inspired the Lakers' Showtime era with his vision that basketball games must be entertaining. "My dream really was to have the Lakers and Los Angeles identified as one and the same," Buss said in a 2010 interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com. [3] Buss started as a chemist for the Bureau of Mines (now the Mine Safety and Health Administration); he then briefly worked in the aerospace industry and was on the faculty of USC's chemistry department. He didnt walk around with a big hammer. Eventually, all three teams moved into a more modern arena in downtown Los Angeles, the Staples Center, which opened in 1999. I remember his comments in the locker room, you can look it up, about removing a certain sentence in the English language. So I talked to the NBA, and that started the process of us putting the lighting in that we have now. I thought their relationship was great. And then at the end of that, they said someone talked to Magic (Johnson), and Magic approved the trade. Buss also owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California. So Im sitting there waiting, and at 10:30 a.m., I go in. When Jerry Buss purchased the LA Lakers from former owner Jack Kent Cooke in 1979, he was divorced from his first wife, JoAnn Mueller. Upon his fathers death in 2013, that interest waned even more. He made you feel appreciated, and part of the family. I remember the first game that we played in Michigan*, at the Silver Dome, and it was a home game for us. When he approached a problem, he never panicked, he never screamed, he was methodical in his approach.

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