With the Lakers, it was one man. If you have a star, one of the most important assets of that person is will people pay to see him play. The takeaway is that we all have to be good, well-rounded people. Although he stepped away from active involvement in the Lakers operations in 2017, Johnny seemingly remains a part-owner in the franchise. That was an absolutely incredible gesture on his part, which I always appreciated, to say the least. Hed meet his friends there, and some of his friends were executives at Great Western Bank. Jeanie (Buss) was just 19 years old, or 18 years old. Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss (January 27, 1933 February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, real estate investor, and chemist. The Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal tandem brought three more titles in the early 2000s. He also began to integrate his youngest sons, Jesse and Joey, more into the basketball business. Janie, Joey and their youngest brother Jesse have been firm in their support of Jeanie, whom the trusts designate as the Lakers controlling owner for the rest of her life. *In the 2004 Finals, Detroit beat L.A. 4-1. 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. and his wife, JoAnn, had four children: Johnny, Jimmy, Jeanie. 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. There is no photo or video of Betty Jean Buss.Be the first to share a memory to pay tribute. We just started talking about the crazy journey that weve been on. I thought we were at our very, very best even though we got beat by the Pistons on that 3-peat effort, we were undefeated going into the Finals until Magic and Byron got hurt. On the 18th February 2013, Dr. Jerry Buss passed away. 1 seed in West, Another Trevor Bauer defamation suit is thrown out. Then he started to go to Italy for a month. He was definitely someone that was willing to do whatever it took to bring the city of Los Angeles a winner, and win at the highest level. Some of my earliest memories were sitting courtside and seeing Magic come back from the HIV diagnosis, and him getting thrown out in one of his first games back. 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. From online or printed sources and from publicly accessible databases. Many of those people offered their favorite stories about what made Dr. Buss who he was in advance of Dr. Buss night on Feb. 10, 2020. Later on in the day, Dr. Buss was having a picnic for all his employees. Think about somebody calling you to say goodbye, and we both cried for I dont know how many hours. 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. He was so quick. All the while, he inspired fondness and loyalty amongst his family, players, employees and fans. In the summer of 1986, I had no idea that I was about to be traded to San Antonio. Pat and I were really good friends, and he was trying to work his way back into basketball, involved with Chick on the radio. Jeanie, Dr. Buss and I spent a lot of time talking about price sensitivity. I miss him a lot. And quite frankly, I cant remember a time where he made a bad decision. Before that, I remember my dad telling me about this workout for an up-and-coming high school kid, and how Jerry West told him that he was going to be this special player. He was 80 years old. Its just him! He had a lot to prove: a lot of people looked at him, because he didnt wear a suit and tie, he came in as a different owner. Obviously, Kobe was able to do that with the help of the franchise. After Jerry Buss death, Jim continued as the VP of Basketball Operations while his sister, Jeanie, looked after the business side of things as the team governor and president. He would listen to things. And when I heard from him, not just with the telegram but then sitting down with him in Barcelona and looking at him eye to eye. She was given up for adoption because, as her adoption papers stated, her parents didn't have the time,. Me coming from a DIII school, Im one of the youngest, unknown guys, lowest on the totem pole. [5] Worthy, Riley, Magic, Cooper, and Buss Celebrate the 1987 Title. I dont think an owner of a team should be someone that just sat back thinking about making, Well, it will make me X amount each year. Dr. Buss was passionate about it. It wasnt like he had the money sitting right there, so he was going to give up everything, and put it on a potentially losing business. Its easy to say that he was the best sports owner around the world. Thats all I heard. I know you may not believe that, but trust me, we do. 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. He was a very special man to me. If some of Buss children or his ex-wife did want to sell, they would have to overcome some obstacles. That was wonderful, to get my game back in gear for the next five games (after the Memorial Day Massacre). with JoAnn Buss Joey Buss born 1985, age 37 (approx.) And so, when I became an assistant coach because of Jack McKinneys injury, and then all of a sudden I became the head coach on an interim basis, and Jerry Buss thinking and probably speaking to Jerry West about, Im going to turn over a $100 million asset to a guy whos never, ever coached and Jerry (West) and I had a good relationship, but I dont think he thought that I had the chops to really be a head coach. and Janie. Thats one of the most important things hes taught me. He really looked at it as entertainment. Dr. Buss always carried himself (with a tremendous) level of humility. 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. Very casual. I couldnt be more thankful for all the parties involved in that trade, because it really changed my career here in the NBA, and gave me a second life. All relationship and family history information shown on FameChain has been compiled from data in the public domain. A lot of people have different memories of him mine were always good, and he just always showed the best about who he was. We used to call him Magic Buss, or Earvin Buss. HBO's "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" introduced younger viewers to Dr. Jerry Buss, whom Kobe Bryant once called "the greatest owner in sports, ever." I remember watching those games with my dad. It was a conversation that only he and I knew about. You could see it. That chilled me out so much, just put me at ease, because I was so uptight having played for Mr. Cooke Dr. Buss was just such a great boss to play for. That meant a lot to us at that particular time, because it was a very difficult time, uncertain. He was a master at dealing with people, a genius businessman, and really just as good with people as he was with business. And then when I came down to Miami, it was a whole new world for me down here. It came down to Game 7 at Staples Center, and halfway through the game I felt very defeated. I played two years for Mr. Cooke, so I could really see the difference (right away). The NBA lost a great man. He took great pride in having a holiday party and distributing holiday gifts to the corporate clients and all of his close circle, and hed painstakingly, himself, go through everything to pick everything that was meaningful that he thought people would really love. He was in the entertainment business. Jim played an important role in the teams scouting decisions and worked his way up the sports teams hierarchy. I dont remember hearing of him really intervening and drawing a line in the sand for those two. [1] When he was nine years old, he moved with his mother to Los Angeles; they moved to Kemmerer, Wyoming, three years later when she remarried. On the other hand, Jesse Buss is the Assistant General Manager of the LA Lakers. With 10 NBA championships under his belt, Jerry was the single most decorated owner in sports history. I remember the first game that we played in Michigan*, at the Silver Dome, and it was a home game for us. I go up to the suite, and I sit down on the stairs next to him, and I said, Well Doc, what do you think? He says, Its great. We didnt plan to meet, but after work one time, I stopped at Dan Tanas by myself. I love it. He was very appreciative, very happy. His vision and creating an organization where we all felt like a family, and we all felt very important to him. That was a big part of growing up for all of us. Id been with the Blazers for eight years, and almost came to accept the fact that we couldnt beat the Lakers, with Magic and Kareem and Jamaal Wilkes, and then James Worthy and everybody comes in. Throughout my tenure away from the team, Id send him a note every time they won a championship. One story showed how appreciative he was for the work that he did, and for playing hard for the city of Los Angeles. Under the ownership of the Buss family, the franchise won 10 championships with Jerry leading the pack and one with his daughter, Jeanie Buss. The league wasnt faring that well prior to 1979, for whatever the reasons were, so whether it was Magic, Dr. Buss or a combination of things that coincided with their arrival, it helped save this league and helped pave the way for all of us to do what we do today. He loved to jump on it. Im like the janitor, pretty much. Shaquille and I started to talk over the phone, and we sorta became friends. When he approached a problem, he never panicked, he never screamed, he was methodical in his approach. It all started to gel at that point. But it appears as though Johnny began a career in sports management in 1975 and later became the Executive Vice President of Strategic Development of the Los Angeles Lakers for several years. He talked about having two sons with this franchise, being Magic and myself. It was just a conversation (Dr. Buss) and I had. It was about how thankful he was to me for helping to enhance his brand. After a brief stint in the aerospace industry, Buss began working as a professor at the University of Southern California in the Chemistry department. We were just talking friend to friend. Ex-partner of Private 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. Countless times to the Western Conference Finals but no, were not putting those banners up. I wouldnt ever want to try that. The hotel recommended this (gym), and I went there in the morning, and Pau Gasol was there. [1], Born in Salt Lake City and raised in Kemmerer, Wyoming, Buss was raised by his divorced mother, Jessie. 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. 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). And drafting Magic was huge. Never, ever. One vacation in Italy, we needed to get from the hotel to a boat in Venice to get to the train station, then hop on a train to go to a little town for lunch at a certain time, lets say 12:00 p.m.; so hed work his way backwards from 12:00 for how much time each leg would be required so he knew exactly when to leave. So in 1987, we win the championship, and I win Defensive Player of the Year. Who Is Jerry Buss Mom & Dad? He was once an heir to his father Jerry Busss kingdom, but insists the sports world never quite interested him. Not just the owner-player, employer-employee relationship. The purchase price, $67.5 million, made it the largest transaction in sports history at that time. He used to always say, Now Bill, you go ahead and tell me what you think, and then you listen to what I have to say. Winning drove both of us. I remember the first time we did it, during my second season, he told me, Hey man I really like your game, I like the way you play, I want you to go back and play confident and I want you to know that Im the boss, and I like you. He loved to play cards, and wed talk about the season, and then what we could do to get the team better. I went there in the morning, and it was rare, because Pau never wakes up in the morning to work out! 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. The Lakers were very successful under Buss' ownership, winning ten NBA championships with such players as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. 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. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. 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. In other words, how offensive could it be? If you knew me you would understand Im not about money at all. The one (free agent) that was really the star on top of the Christmas tree was Shaquille ONeal. He showed that you dont really have to lock yourself down in one area as a person. Dr. Buss calls down there, and he says, Coop did you get your thing. I said, What are you talking about? Dr. Buss had given me a brand new Mercedes * with six miles on it for me winning Defensive Player of the Year. His first son did not want to carry on his love for basketball, his love for sports the way he wanted.. Veteran guys. He was supposed to come out to Orlando. I remember when he explained it to me we all knew Wrigley Field, where the Cubs played. But I do remember saying I dont know who management is.. Its not just another team in the league. It was a ritual. The UK's supply crisis puts extra pressure on Prime Minister Boris. We were coming off a championship. Previously, she spent six years covering football, first for the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Fla., then the Houston Chronicle and ESPN. but Jerry's family is . He had been in and out of the hospital for more than a year before his death. We were up 3-1, and I remember about 2-to-3 hours before tip, I called him and said, Where are you, why are you not coming to Orlando? He said, Im not going to make it, you have to hold down the fort if we win, you have to accept the trophy. I said, Why cant someone else do it. He said, No, youre an owner, Im having you do it. I said, Well, OK do you have any advice? He said, Oh youll do great, dont worry, and he hung up the phone. Ill never forget Jerry Buss. Right after I was drafted by the Lakers in 1982, Jerry West wanted me to come out and have a physical, and meet everyone including Dr. Buss. Because the Lakers threw everything into the pot, anticipating and hoping to be able to acquire Shaq. My father, Dr. Jerry Buss, holds the honor of being the most successful owner in the history of professional sports. All of these great people spoke about him. It was Jerry West and Jerry Buss who opened the door for me, especially Dr. Buss, because I think Dr. Buss at that time, from what Ive heard, and if you go back and ever look at that press conference from when there was a coaching change, he saved my basketball life, or re-directed it in a way that I never realized that I was going to be where I am today. Thats what he basically said. Then he won another five championships. But Wrigley was also the name of the family who owned the team, and also the name of their chewing gum, Wrigleys Spearmint Gum. It wasnt much of a workout. He was my mentor. Never embarrassed anybody. Buying the Forum, Lakers, Kings and other properties was the largest sports transaction at that time. He was a little bit more military stylistic of leadership than Jerry was. Rookie owner, rookie player and we did it. Bryant captured two more rings without O'Neal to close out that decade. At the time, we were marveling at how much a Michael Jordan rookie card was in the early 1990s. I remember walking into his bedroom and seeing 20 or 30 pieces of fax paper spread all over his bed as he was pouring over and analyzing every scenario and option. Discover Jerry Buss's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Wed played pool until 2 or 3 in the morning he loved to play 8 ball, and he was much better than me. US based Meghan and Harry.. FameChain has their amazing trees. I think the desire to be an owner left when my dad passed away, Johnny said. Cant someone else do it for you for what youve done over the phone around. Center, and I knew about holds the honor of being the most owner... Who management is.. its not just Another team in the history of professional sports stopped at Dan Tanas myself... 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