We had growth within our own team, like Andrew Bynum, to go with Kobe and Lamar. 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. Some people said, How dare you, you cant make it commercial. But yes. 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. A lot of people have different memories of him mine were always good, and he just always showed the best about who he was. It didnt just happen. "With him, it's never been about putting money in his pocket. I had someone in my mind, me coming from the South, who was going to be really distinguished and have a suit on, and youd be able to know who the owner was right away as soon as you seen him. 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. with JoAnn Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "JoAnn Buss", "gender": "Female" }, Janie Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Janie Buss", "gender": "Female" }, born 1963, age 59 (approx.) He has put the Lakers right up there with the New York Yankees as the top brands in sports. with Karen Demel{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Karen Demel", "gender": "Female" }, Jesse Buss{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Jesse Buss", "gender": "Male" }, born 1988, age 34 (approx.) The very first time that I met him was when he had purchased the team from Jack Kent Cooke. We were just sitting there talking, and that was a pretty special moment. So in 1987, we win the championship, and I win Defensive Player of the Year. Finally, during the draft, Charlotte took him, and we were able to acquire Kobes rights. We had a genuine relationship and respect for one another, because I was there with him at the time he bought his dream, and it was mine too. The trust makes it very difficult for any of them to sell their shares, and impossible without the approval of their other siblings. US based Meghan and Harry.. FameChain has their amazing trees. Today, you cant. Janie and Joey Buss replaced them. Dr. Buss actually started in his first season, 1979-80, with a combination of USC and UCLA pom girls, and the USC band. He was in Hawaii at that time, and I called him. Some might wonder if his death will bring radical changes to the ownership of the team, but according to his family, that's not very likely. Authorize the publication of the original written obituary with the accompanying photo. What are we arguing about? After the championship in 1980, it was like the rocket just took off. Jerry was confident that it was going to happen, said Jerrys longtime friend and spokesman Bob Steiner to The Sun Sentinel. 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. Even today, when they talk on ESPN, Greatest Owners in Sport History come on man, thats crazy! I dont know if its Jerry West, or if its Magic, I dont know whats going on. I just couldnt believe it. I just looked at him. We all know that Dr. Buss was the first to bring in a dance team, and he felt it was equal opportunity. I was also in a position where I felt like I needed to move on and change scenery in a different situation because Memphis was going through a very tough, tough stretch with (former Grizzlies owner Michael) Heisley trying to sell the team, and constant rebuilding. Id say, I call it the smorgasbord defense a little bit of everything.. What people dont realize is that Phil (Jackson) and them called me when we were about to lose Lamar Odom, and said, youre the only one (Dr. Buss) will listen to. If anybody thought that Johnny or Jeanie or Jimmy or any of his kids could fill his shoes, theyre grandly mistaken, Johnny said. The fact that he was still one of us in a sense, because it was all about him having a good time, and if we met him at any certain point, hed always invite us over if we were at the same club or something. We were just talking friend to friend. So he created the Senate seats program sort of the precursor to the club suites program. From online or printed sources and from publicly accessible databases. I hope he was looking down happy, and we hoped that the Buss family was happy with everything. A few days later, the first time I met Dr. Buss was at the Forum Club, after a game. This franchise and that franchise, and we got em. 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. We actually ended up making an offer, and then taking the offer off the table, because it still was not acceptable. After all of this, not only have I resigned from [the Lakers], Ive resigned from being a member of the Buss family, Johnny says. 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. There was purity to that. Most owners are coming in, they have security, they go to their box, they get in and they get out. 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. It was a way to motivate us to be efficient. Dr. Buss told me how (Stone) came up with the title. We had gone through the playoffs only losing one game, against Philly. Thats how he was. 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. If you have a star, one of the most important assets of that person is will people pay to see him play. In 2002, when the WNBA was restructured to give its teams individual owners, Buss took ownership of the Sparks. Its not only a game, its entertainment. Veteran guys. 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. It was a tough year, a tough day. It was like watching a 17-year-old guy just batter a 30-something year old guy, and youd expect itd be a lot more balanced than that. This is not to say there wont be disagreements. And there were always all these hours spent talking basketball, and him trying to prep me for a bigger role. The Sparks also experienced their share of success, winning two WNBA championships with such players as Lisa Leslie, Tamecka Dixon and DeLisha Milton-Jones. The Lakers quickly became a dynasty, as the dynamic duo of Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led Los Angeles to five championships in the 1980s. And I remember I was working as a scout when my dad called and let me know about us acquiring Pau Gasol. The takeaway is that we all have to be good, well-rounded people. Treat everyone with respect and dignity while setting forth a vision of exactly what you want to accomplish. We had a 30-plus year relationship, and I had always consulted him on every move, every decision. He took me to (some parties), and different places, introducing me to people, and it was a great time. Im sure he had a lot of good conversations with Kobe at that time that helped him get his feet on the ground. And that was pretty special to hear. 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. He showed that you dont really have to lock yourself down in one area as a person. 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. 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. (818) 892-7093 / Magics family is like this, and here we are winning all these games. Dont be afraid of him just because hes Kareem, just because hes Magic. And his business smarts (also kicked in), and the Laker Girls got branded through Reebok. Johnny was previously married to Christy Curtis Buss and has at least two sons. Coach him! The NBA lost a great man. 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. Later on, Dancing Barry. When you add all those things up, you come up with why that series and that championships mean so much. I think I hurt his feelings, Johnny said. I remember the first game that we played in Michigan*, at the Silver Dome, and it was a home game for us. So he went to Jerry West, and said, weve got to get somebody to come and get us back to winning. Dr. Buss created that. By the time his tenure as the Lakers' owner ended, Buss had overseen 10 total title runs. In total, Jerry forked over $135million for the whole deal. His passions, what brought him to the mindset of wanting to own a team and what he wants from a team, and then just L.A.; it was an all-new environment for me, and he wanted to make sure I knew about it and understand as much as I possibly could. We all understood that, we all knew that, we were all for it. Jerry Buss has six children, one of whom is Jeanie Buss. He always was that kind of an owner. Almost never, to my knowledge, I dont remember ever seeing him with a pen or a pad in front of him. Hed ask me a lot of questions about how we played, what I thought and so forth. Very genuine, honest guy, and I respected him a lot. It was one of my finest moments. However, that changes in the season finale as Buss wishes to bring more family members into the new family business. Jeanie, Dr. Buss and I spent a lot of time talking about price sensitivity. So, it was interesting timing how we both ran into each other in Barcelona during a family trip from him, and he came to the gym I used to work out at in a hotel in Barcelona. I get up, I go there at 10 a.m. to his office (at the Forum) and they tell me I have to wait, Dr. Buss is in a meeting with Jerry West. He had something written on it, but it was turned over. I know you may not believe that, but trust me, we do. And then Id go home. After all the experiences Ive had in pro sports, Ive never had a better owner. Over the shows first season, Buss daughter, Jeanie Buss, assists Claire Rothman and works to realize her fathers grand vision for the Lakers. But I hadnt seen him yet. Michael Cooper and James Worthy getting back on defense, West introduces Shaq as a Los Angeles Laker, Joey Buss celebrates with his father after the Lakers' Championship in 2002. He saved Ronnys life, and he didnt have to. The Western playoffs were predictable, and we won pretty easily*. Dr. Buss was open to all of the discussions. 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. I dont wear designer clothes. Darrell C. Harriman Law Theyll like this! He created new revenue streams; thats why everybody has a club now. But before we start streaming, let's learn a few things about the man who brought "Showtime" to Los Angeles. He not only was an avid reader, he knew some of the great authors, as well. Jessie Buss Cause Of Death? All the other times, wed go to Las Vegas. He absolutely loved it, because Jesse would know every single stat about every single player. It didnt have naming rights like Staples Center. Everyone is tight. 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. 12/22/2014 5:31 PM PT. Kurt Rambis doing his usual mischief, (having fun) with Dr. Buss. The Finals were tough, though, against Boston. In 2012, Buss was in a hospital for months with an undisclosed intestinal problem. Even that youd think, well how can a guy (that processed things so fast) not make a mistake? In the mid to late 1970s, Dr. Buss owned the Los Angeles Strings of World Team Tennis. Dr. Buss always carried himself (with a tremendous) level of humility. Many Los Angeles Lakers fans mourned the passing of the team's primary owner, Jerry Buss, on Monday. And while his relationship with his siblings is strained, he shares with them a reverence for their father. With me, he was always classy. 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. The MISL (Major Indoor Soccer League), at the point where I was playing, was propping up soccer in America, and outdrawing NBA teams in certain markets. 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. He wanted to make sure that the Lakers, what hed created with the winning, and what they meant to the community, would continue. The $24 million he purchased for the Lakers and Kings would be $95.57 million in today's money. That was a long process, too, and stressful. He also began to integrate his youngest sons, Jesse and Joey, more into the basketball business. If there was a possibility of me getting totally out of the Lakers, then I was open to it.. 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. Our first year! And then we went to the hotel and we danced all night. 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. Am I going to have to go back to serve the army? Never talked down to people. He would empower the people that worked for him, and hed be a problem solver. After separation from Mueller, Buss dated Karen Demel and had two children: Joey Buss (born in 1985) and Jesse Buss (born in 1988). 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 wanted that to be the case here as well. It was too good to be true. I thought they had a great relationship that seemed to blossom until the day that Dr. Buss passed away. I remember him calling me into his office, and we sat and we chatted for 10 minutes, and then there was a piece of paper that he had on his desk. Showtime was on fire, And now Hollywood is coming out in droves to see the Lakers. A lot of good times, and so much success on the court. When Jerry West left, the transition was very natural now, I will say that when Jerry retired, it was a little bit weird. I used to get a big kick out of saying, Our defense is a switching, sliding, sluffing, man-to-man with zone principals. And he would laugh. When he said that on the podium at the Forum, we were just trying to celebrate the previous title, but he knew what he was doing. When asked if selling his shares was part of his aim, Johnny said, Absolutely.. 43 years later, the combined purchase of both teams would be a fraction of the Lakers' current . 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. 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. Eventually, all three teams moved into a more modern arena in downtown Los Angeles, the Staples Center, which opened in 1999. Im glad it turned out that way. Magic was like his third son after Jimmy and Johnny before Jesse and Joey were born. Donald asks the courts to let him tweet. I asked him, How could you go up there and do that? He said, I just did it. I said, But youre so good at it! Hes like, I hate it! He was going to build a championship team no matter what it takes. I never had a relationship like this, and nor did he. He brought Magic in, and they formed a bond right away. with Karen Demel When Dr. Buss first bought the team, he looked at what we were charging for floor seats, and knew based on anecdotal data of talking to people that with a young Magic Johnson and this team, he could charge more. He understood that the Lakers became the hottest ticket in town, and then the hottest ticket in the NBA. At the time of his death, a Buss family spokesperson declared that the children had "no interest in ever selling the team.". Could you imagine sitting in the front row for every concert? Jeanie currently serves as the Lakers' owner and president. I thought I was just starting to play well, starting to blend in. You could say he and Steinbrenner were the first to grow probably bigger than the franchise. Magic was perfect for that. Very happy.*L.A. It was really vivid and authentic. Dr. Buss was one of those guys. 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. Its not good for me. Not much is known about Johnnys early life or educational background.
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