Thats how I try to live. I remember when he explained it to me we all knew Wrigley Field, where the Cubs played. He got a big kick out of that, and by the fourth season, he won. championships the Lakers would secure during Busss ownership. Finally, during the draft, Charlotte took him, and we were able to acquire Kobes rights. In 1988, winning for the second straight year and fulfilling the prophecy of Pat Riley (guaranteeing a repeat) was a special year but that year was so hard. I think the everyday element had taken its toll, so he probably was spending more time with his family and a little bit less with the team. Daniel's 5th outing as Bond gets bums back on seats in the cinema. I even wrote a paper when I was in seventh grade about how Kobe was going to be a future Hall of Fame player, and that the combination of Shaq and Kobe was going to be one of the best duos of all time. The oldest and adopted child of Jerry Buss, Lee Buss is the sister of Jeanie Buss. But once we acquired Shaq and Kobe, we started beating them more often than they were beating us. It was really important when I gave that speech not just to honor his memory and his legacy, but to also make sure we honor him in a way that we carry his legacy moving forward. He had it all memorized in his head. I read a biography on Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow, and really got into collecting early gold coins, so I focused on it, and it was interesting talking to Dr. Buss about his collecting. We never had any problems to talk about, except for any games that we might lose. What impressed me most about him was he would speak to the parking attendant, the staff, anybody he just liked people, and you felt that about him. If you have a star, one of the most important assets of that person is will people pay to see him play. So I want you to play confident. Then at times, if I was struggling a bit later in the season, wed do it again. His first investment in the 1960s was $1,000 in a West Los Angeles apartment building. And then when I came down to Miami, it was a whole new world for me down here. Obviously he went to USC, and he loved the band. How Your Local Grocery Store Is Designed Like A Casino, These Are Officially The Rudest Premier League Fans, Top Tips To Improve Your Chances Of Winning Scratch Cards, Highest And Lowest Gambling Taxes Around The World, Editorial 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. There was prime real estate, and it was about location, location, location. He showed that you dont really have to lock yourself down in one area as a person. It came down to Game 7 at Staples Center, and halfway through the game I felt very defeated. Never embarrassed anybody. I walked in and (Dr. Buss) called me over to his table and I sat next to him. earned an MS and Ph.D. in physical chemistry and was ready to truly make his We just started talking about the crazy journey that weve been on. revolutionized basketball in terms of entertainment too. There was a time in the early 1980s when Dr. Buss would ask me, Whos going to be the most improved team in the league this year by the greatest number of games. Hed say, Well bet a dinner on this. I said, OK, Ill bet with you. So each year, wed both pick a team, and I won for three straight years. And then at the end of that, they said someone talked to Magic (Johnson), and Magic approved the trade. Along with his business partner, Frank Mariani, he formed a real estate investment company, Mariani-Buss Associates. 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. 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. Daniel Craig. Success starts at the top. 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. To me, that sums up everything about who he was and how much he cared about always wanting to his players to feel good about him and about the brand, especially for somebody that played as many years for the Lakers as I did. Immediately when Dr. Buss bought the team, he invited me to the party, and he said, You know Jamaal, if Muhammad wont come to the mountain, the mountain will come to Muhammad. Theres a very subtle story there, because what he was saying is, we could both reach out. 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. High praise indeed, I love him, and his family, and I thank him to this day for the opportunity. And then they walked me back over and said, Heres Dr. Buss. Coming from Tobacco Road, North Carolina, I was like, Damn, this is a cool dude! I couldnt believe he was just down to earth. Buss said that. And we drafted a kid who we think is going to be phenomenal. I told him when I saw him in college at LSU: The day I saw you, I went and told our owner, Jerry Buss, he has to wear a Laker uniform one day. In the process of this thing, I said, Jerry, this is going to really be costly. In 1996-97, after I came back to the Lakers for Kobes rookie year, we didnt see Dr. Buss quite as much. This undoubtedly formed He gave the OK to pursue it. That was my reaction. 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. It was a really intimate moment. The Lakers were very successful under Buss' ownership, winning 10 NBA championships with such players as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Pau Gasol, and with coaches Pat Riley and Phil Jackson. He wanted it to be entertainment mixed in with a great team, and he was fortunate enough that he had a great team. Even though after the death of Hazzard in 2011, he was still an employee of the Lakers. female controlling owner to win an NBA championship when the Lakers clinched Jim Buss, 57, was in his 12th season as the Lakers head of basketball operations his 19th season in the front office until Jeanie Buss fired him from the position last week. Jerry Buss, the playboy owner of the Los Angeles Lakers who died last month, has left his sprawling Hawaii digs and hot wheels to his much younger girlfriend. lost his life seven years after Buss. Furthermore, stand-up comedy was something she always wanted to try, eventually leading her to develop a comedy show with Mindy Lahiri, Elaine Ko, and Linda Rambis. Dr. Buss, its because the lights are so high up in the ceiling, and in order to make the court bright enough for broadcast, its really bright. He says, I understand, but can you keep an eye on that? So in 2004, the NBA came in with the All-Star game, and they brought in rigging with lights to create that sort of Broadway musical focus on the court. Ex-Lakers player Michael Later on in the day, Dr. Buss was having a picnic for all his employees. Nevertheless, during his tenure as ownership, The Lakers were a successful team with ten NBA Championships. with JoAnn Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "JoAnn Buss", "gender": "Female" }, Jim Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Jim Buss", "gender": "Male" }, born 1959, age 63 (approx.) It was amazing. I was finally going to join the team I grew up loving in the Bahamas as a kid, from afar. It was everything that you would hope for in a new teammate thats going to make a significant contribution to the team. He was a very special man to me. There was nothing too distract them, the players, and the family, because it really was all about the Lakers, all about preparing for the games, all about having fun in the games, Showtime, all about having fun in Los Angeles, all about having fun as families. Some people said, How dare you, you cant make it commercial. But yes. If I just followed the blueprint he laid out for me, I was going to be successful, and I did. Once they got on the floor, they seemed to be able to put all that behind them and do what they needed to do. championship three years in a row, the Lakers became the first team to achieve When he approached a problem, he never panicked, he never screamed, he was methodical in his approach. Also, check Bohdan Bondarenko: Early Life, High Jump & Net Worth>>. After that, Jeanies brothers tried to have Jeanie removed as the president and controlling owner. Buss was the third of four children to Jerry Buss and JoAnn Mueller. He was an actor, known for Law of the Lawless (1964), Arli$$ (1996) and High Stakes Poker (2006). Leadership starts from the top, and he was one of these guys who commanded respect. At the time, she was still working towards her business degree at the University of Southern California. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America, Uju Anya Ethnicity And Parents: Family Net Worth And Salary, Sonia Montejano: Early Life, Career & Net Worth, Who Is Limmy On Twitch? It had just come out, and somehow he got his hands on it, and wanted to know my thoughts on it, especially because he knew I was Italian and I was raised Roman Catholic. See FameChain's massive Trump family tree. From online or printed sources and from publicly accessible databases. What Was The Deal With The Casino In Nevada State Prison? So Jerry picked me up at the airport in his 944 Porsche. He loved to jump on it. That was part of the floor seat program. 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 Dwarfs were gifted championship rings when the Lakers won titles and were granted carte blanche access to all Laker home games and events at the Fabulous Forum / Great Western Forum / Staples Center. There was a clause in the contract where the doctor had to give the green light because of my back, to have a contract valid, and Dr. Buss didnt even wait for the doctors. California (USC). Donald asks the courts to let him tweet. Jerry Buss buying the Los Angeles Lakers in 1979. He was always right. He understood the brand of the Lakers, and that first time he sat down with me in 1979, he said, I want to make the Lakers a household name. Basically, he wanted Showtime. He was the first to see this league as the entertainment value that it is. Source: Los Angeles Times, Lakers expected to remain a Buss family-owned team, Mike Bresnahan, Feb. 19, 2013. Dr. Jerry Buss was a larger-than-life character whose impact on US sports can still be felt today, nearly a decade after his passing. 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. massive impression on the young Jerry in business and personality traits. We were big into collecting basketball cards growing up. It was just really cool. The couple has four children together two elder sons, Johnny Buss (born in 1956), James "Jim" Buss (born in 1959), and two younger daughters in Jeanie Buss (born in 1961) and Janie Buss (born in 1963). He liked to challenge us. I thought he was really sincere about the things that he always said, so thats what I appreciated the most about him. He allowed Jerry West to make the bulk of the basketball decisions, and Dr. Buss would give him the yay or nay, and most of the time it was a yay. 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.) [16] During his time as Lakers owner, Buss was widely known as a playboy and had a string of young girlfriends. 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. Really cool. Never talked down to people. away due to kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He loved being around the guys. Coming through life, there are some people that you look at as more than a friend, more than a boss. And he always wanted to know what my favorite book was, and I told him it was The Agony and the Ecstasy. He said, Thats interesting, because I knew Irving Stone, the author. Dr. Buss had been hospitalized much of the past 18 months in a battle which "showed his amazing strength and will to live. It was a conversation that only he and I knew about. Professor Uju Anya analyzes race, gender, sexual orientation, and social class identities in the context of learning a new language via the experiences of African American students. When you hire someone and they meet your qualifications, let them do their job, and go from there. We were down, and it was that same old thing. Without his vision, the sport would [30][32] His daughter took over the Lakers on March 27, 2017. Jerry would wake up at 4.30am to dig ditches for hours before heading to He was in the entertainment business. Well, except for the getting along part. A few days later, the first time I met Dr. Buss was at the Forum Club, after a game. Ryan is a professional and exceptionally experienced video game journalist as well. 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. He was like a rebel, but in a good sense. And I walked right by him. Explore how the celebrity world connects. He liked to talk hoops. Jerry was the owner of Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), Los Angeles Kings Hockey (NHL), and The Forum. Buss grew up in the beautiful city of Salt Lake City, Utah, the United States of America, along with his father, Lydus Buss, and mother, Jessie Buss. You look at them like father figures. Explore how the celebrity world connects. He spent two years convincing Cooke to sell him the team, in May of 1979. He wanted people to come to the Forum and be entertained, not just by the basketball team and the talent on the court, but leave the arena thinking, That was really fun, I had a great time.. One of the great things about my dad is that no matter how successful he was, and no matter how much in the public spotlight he was, he always valued his family. . That's why, when I created this new uniform, I wanted people to see that. He made sure they had the kind of food I wanted, and he was really attentive to the little details to make sure it was a comfortable environment to me. Therefore, viewers must be curious to find out whether Buss sons ended up working with the LA Lakers. We didnt tell Mitch (Kupchak), we didnt tell anybody about that. Clutch and going to meet everybody. vision, prevailed. We were so confident. Jerry Buss's age was 80 years old at the time of his death. I do remember after we won that year, on the night of Game 7, and looking in Dr. Busss eyes as he was being presented the trophy. Am I being traded? He says, Were not trading you, what are you talking about? So we start chitchatting, and talking about other things, and finally he says, Coop you know what, I got some other meetings I have to have, but I just want to let you know theres something for you at the tunnel. So I go, OK, this is it. I figured Jerry (West) or whoever the other team was at the tunnel at the Forum. Meghan Markle. 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. And then we went and celebrated together again. 1961) and Janie (b. It wasnt even close. 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. record of 72-26. Having known that about him, after we won various championships, the relief that you saw on him when we got that trophy, it was like he was out there sweating with us. While still very much involved with the Lakers, Dr. Buss continued to rely on Mitch Kupchak, Phil Jackson, Jim Buss, Jeanie Buss and Magic Johnson as the Lakers built back up from the Kobe-Shaq years into the Kobe-Pau Gasol-Lamar Odom years. It was a whirlwind (amidst the sadness), and all of a sudden here we are at the Nokia Theatre, with check in, banners outside where people could write messages, former Lakers and NBA players a beautiful stage and so on. Who is Paloma Jimenez, you may ask? I remember watching those games with my dad. That would be amazing to me. He talked about beating the Celtics. Why, when I came back to the team Buss buying the Los Angeles times, if I followed. Believe he was just down to Miami, it was the first see. 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