Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Dennis Schroder leads depleted Lakers to crucial win over Thunder, LeBron-less Lakers cant keep pace with Ja Morant, Grizzlies, LeBron James to miss Lakers game Tuesday and possibly more, We keep progressing: Lakers takeaways after beating Dallas, Before and after photos from space show storms effect on California reservoirs, Dramatic before and after photos from space show epic snow blanketing SoCal mountains, The chance of a lifetime: Five friends ski the tallest mountain in Los Angeles, Best coffee city in the world? What are we arguing about? Dr. Buss was my boss in a completely different way from what happened later. In 1996-97, after I came back to the Lakers for Kobes rookie year, we didnt see Dr. Buss quite as much. It feels small, but its not. He loved to play cards, and wed talk about the season, and then what we could do to get the team better. And then Id go home. Its about bringing out the best from that person. Let the women be the show, get the attention. With me, he was always classy. The 11 years that I was coaching as an assistant and head coach, that team went to the NBA Finals eight or nine times and we won five championships, probably should have won two more. He would do math tricks when we were going places all the time. *L.A. won 3-0 against Denver, 4-1 against Golden State and 4-0 against Seattle. But now I realize, you actually really know your (stuff)! Then he started asking for my opinion on things. After being hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with an undisclosed form of cancer, he died of kidney failure at 5:55 a.m. on February 18, 2013, aged 80. He, with his real estate background, realized that people would pay just like for a house on the beach. There is no good answer for the loss of a loved one. That when you think L.A., you think Lakers. Many Los Angeles Lakers fans mourned the passing of the team's primary owner, Jerry Buss, on Monday. And its crazy how the Lakers are one of the biggest, most successful franchises in sports history, and it feels like a mom and pop organization. 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. And he had an ability to let Bill Sharman, Jerry West, Pete Newell make important decisions that he didnt have the background to make. 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. We really hit it off. In the summer of 1986, I had no idea that I was about to be traded to San Antonio. It wouldnt just be me reaching out. He joined the Lakers in 1998 as an apprentice to General Manager Jerry West. At the time, they only had a dial up internet connection, and a lot of data needed to be presented to my dad from the front office, so theyd use the fax machine. Magic was worth every accolade or attention he got, because he carried us. Read more. He promoted concerts at the Forum. Very casual. Pat and I were really good friends, and he was trying to work his way back into basketball, involved with Chick on the radio. The Buss siblings have occasionally butted heads in the past, such as with the hiring of coach Mike DAntoni over Phil Jackson, the fiance of one of the Buss children. It was very personal with him. 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. Johnny says its all a misunderstanding. 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. I connected with him more through others, some of the people that were tight with him, who would always tell me that Dr. Jim was later appointed as the Head of Basketball Operations but was removed in 2017 by Jeanie. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Powered by Standing Stone Designs | Dont worry about it, kid. Buss said this or Dr. Copyright 2023 Sporting News Holdings Limited. In 2013, after Jerry Buss passed away, all six Buss siblings were given an equal shareholding in the LA Lakers franchise. Thats how he was. If anybody thought that Johnny or Jeanie or Jimmy or any of his kids could fill his shoes, theyre grandly mistaken, Johnny said. I didnt get a phone call, or any kind of notification that, Well, Jerrys leaving, Mitch, and Im hiring you. I remember Jerry West retiring, and me saying, OK, whos the GM going to be? I think somebody asked me to reach out to Dr. Buss, and Dr. Buss said, Well Mitch, of course you are. I said, Thank you very much. I think he assumed it, but of course I didnt assume it. Thats how I try to live. 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 a conversation that only he and I knew about. It is. 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. Buss was a high-stakes cash game poker player for many years, but later in life was more active in tournament games. Over the shows first season, Buss daughter, Jeanie Buss, assists Claire Rothman and works to realize her fathers grand vision for the Lakers. We would usually start watching NBA League Pass at 4 p.m., when the Eastern games would come on, but he didnt really know as much about the draft. Thats why when hed make a decision, hed take the time to explain to me the thought process behind it, so Id always know where that decision was coming from and why he believed in particular. He was thinking of Kobe. Some people said, How dare you, you cant make it commercial. But yes. I couldnt believe it. I remember being bummed with all my friends that we werent going to be able to see Magic Is Back, as it was being marketed at the time. Wed played pool until 2 or 3 in the morning he loved to play 8 ball, and he was much better than me. Thats when I got to meet Magics family. Write your message of sympathy today. He was amazing with his connections and who he knew, and now, I just had to put the work in, and I did that. Dr. Buss left a lasting legacy, expressed through those that were close to him. I love him, and his family, and I thank him to this day for the opportunity. Shortly thereafter, we got Pau Gasol, and the rest is history. Am I going to have to go back to serve the army? It was the first time we actually felt a part of something. He was like, The contract is good. It was an extension of the brand, a way to reach Los Angeles. Id never been in a Porsche before. I remember him saying, You know how cool it would be for the Buss family to own the Lakers for 100 years? I didnt realize this was a thing, where you get handed this trophy from the commissioner and do a speech. He hired good people and he let them do their jobs, he trusted them. We were the only team to win a world championship in Boston Garden other than the Celtics. Meghan Markle. 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. So in 1987, we win the championship, and I win Defensive Player of the Year. Any age group, any ethnic group. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. We were so confident. I remember wed just won the championship against the Pacers, and he took us down on the floor. And we all took one set. The whole way, hed keep track on his watch, and we had to get there on the dot at 12:00. If you are thinking of buy an NBA jersey then check out the official retailers of the NBA below. We shared a hobby as coin collectors, and Dr. Buss owned some really important coins, and I was aware of that. He would surprise you. Thats another way we connected. Most people at that level were pretty standoffish. At the time, we were marveling at how much a Michael Jordan rookie card was in the early 1990s. Id played the whole season with a torn ligament. 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.. 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. I think thats why people just adore him so. He talked about having two sons with this franchise, being Magic and myself. I thought their relationship was great. I just think he did a great job with the opportunity that he had, and his vision has really benefitted the game. In 2002, when the WNBA was restructured to give its teams individual owners, Buss took ownership of the Sparks. 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. This is a year after Id left, and I remember we had dinner up on Sunset Boulevard, and Id signed this humongous contract, or at that time it was, and he looked me in the eye and said, Read my lips, do you realize how much money that is? He tried to put things in perspective as to what I was about ready to do in New York, and what they were going to pay me, and that I deserved it, I earned it, everything that Id done in Los Angeles he was proud of, and he was proud that Chris and I could go to New York and start our careers over again there. From my standpoint, when I got in, Magic had been in the league for a few years and they were really close. Very unique to have an owner who took a player under his wing and was really teaching him stuff outside of basketball to help him when the game was over. We werent always making money; it was a passion for him. We talked about where he was at in his life the Lakers we covered everything. All relationship and family history information shown on FameChain has been compiled from data in the public domain. We just clicked. I remember thinking it was really cool to have somebody go to the NBA straight from high school, somebody that was only five or six years older than me. And then 25 years later, to be able to celebrate at a different stage in my life with him again (2010). He ran the WNBAs Los Angeles Sparks while the family still owned the team. My last year when I retired (2004-05), I remember being a free agent, and one call from him made my decision easier when he told me, You started with the Lakers, you have to retire with the Lakers. That was my decision, trusting that guy, and man, it was a pleasure to play with him. He had thought about it. Whatever Lamar got paid was worth it. 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. Coming from Yugoslavia, I had some issue with military service, and there was an issue there that Dr. Buss made sure to let me know he was behind me and my family no matter what. It was a way to motivate us to be efficient. His vision inspired us and gave us the OK to be, sometimes, and thats pretty cool. I always (respected) how Dr. Buss interacted with people around the stadium. Buss Family Trust is a 66% controlling ownership of the Lakers passed to Jerry Buss' six children via a trust, with each child receiving an equal vote (11% for each child). Buss was an inaugural member of the USC College Board of Councilors. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Life is funny that way. The $24 million he purchased for the Lakers and Kings would be $95.57 million in today's money. He put his imprint on the league fast, and then we win the championship too? After a brief stint in the aerospace industry, Buss began working as a professor at the University of Southern California in the Chemistry department. As part of the deal to move the Lakers into Staples Center, Buss sold the Great Western Forum (which was later reverted to its original name). Lydus Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Lydus Buss", "gender": "Male" }, Jessie Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Jessie Buss", "gender": "Female" }, relationship resumed before 1975 until before 1990, Johnny Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Johnny Buss", "gender": "Male" }, born 1956, age 66 (approx.) People thought it meant you had to have a superstar, but it really wasnt about that, it was about the winning, and then people would see the superstars because we were winning. If everyone took as much care and time to plan for the end of their lives, there would likely be much less fighting among family members when it came time to administer their estates. The Finals were tough, though, against Boston. The lying in state was held on Monday, February 27th 2023 from 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Fox Funeral Home (1116 N 19th St, Beatrice, NE 68310). With the Lakers, it was one man. He leaves behind six children, eight grandchildren, a former wife, two half-siblings and a step-brother. with JoAnn Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "JoAnn Buss", "gender": "Female" }, Jeanie Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Jeanie Buss", "gender": "Female" }, born 1961, age 61 (approx.) The sale of the team would require a majority vote among the six children. Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss was born on Jan. 27, 1933, in Salt Lake City. But his impact went well beyond Los Angeles' overall record. We always knew he was the boss, dont get me wrong, and we knew if he wasnt pleased with how we were playing, but he was such a good guy that you really wanted to give that little extra. Playing for him was one of the best highlights of my life. My thoughts and prayers are with the family & friends of Dr. Jerry Buss. OK but I dont just want your money, I also want you do this, this and this to build our brand. 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