If you knew me you would understand Im not about money at all. 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. Coach him. 5 out of From my standpoint, when I got in, Magic had been in the league for a few years and they were really close. 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. 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. 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." One of his favorite comments always used to be, Aint nothin like winning! So thats one of my vivid memories. *Jan. 11, 1980: the Lakers won 123-100. Between 2006 and 2011, Id see him when I was coaching, and wed reflect on memories. *It was a Mercedes Benz 420 in teal, a color that nobody else had. Theyd grab a card, and hed ask them what their stats were that year. And he really wanted me to listen. He made good observations about the game, and personnel and so forth. Its about bringing out the best from that person. I do remember when Lamar (Odom) was a free agent, and Im not sure what our financial situation was at the time, but it was a rough negotiation, because wed just won the 2009 championship. He was a little bit more military stylistic of leadership than Jerry was. Whatever Lamar got paid was worth it. How he figured out our monetary system, the Coast Guard, customs, the first inspector general of the Army ridiculous. He showed that you dont really have to lock yourself down in one area as a person. Hulu's "Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers" is taking a different approach. 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. You have cap space and you go for big stars, but that was something my dad was going to outline the blueprint for. Wed talk about business. Never raised his voice, and that inspired people. Slow down. He was very patient and he loved timing things out, but not necessarily rushing to places. We kept in touch that way. We all felt very comfortable around him because he treated us all as human beings. So I talked to the NBA, and that started the process of us putting the lighting in that we have now. He really was in a lot of ways a mentor, in business, in life and in basketball. He says hes tried to apologize. Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss was born on Jan. 27, 1933, in Salt Lake City. In a limousine outside the office that day in 1979 sat Busss oldest son, Johnny. Just sit and let the dust settle, and a decision will be evident to you. He loved being around the guys. 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. Discover Jerry Buss's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. It was probably the only time I felt really stressed with the Lakers. He was always right. Its more than just going out there and playing. 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The teacher looked at me and said, Dont get your hopes up too much. And he would wander off into other aspects of life, and he was so smart, and so brilliant, so well read in a lot of different areas that it was truly intriguing for me at that time, unbeknownst to me what was going on, that I was getting the education of a lifetime as a head coach and also as a man. Dr. Buss was someone who really cared about other people, and I think that same tradition of loyalty of friendship has filtered down to his children. He was there for us. So I played in San Antonio for about 4.5 months and had no idea the Lakers were interested in me. 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. It was a great relationship for a number of years. So, he liked to challenge people. I remember my son Thomas jumping in my arms, and he was five or six years old, and I was so tired, I could barely lift him. Jordan Greer is an NBA content producer for The Sporting News. It was an important economic trend, another thing that he identified, and brought the NBA into more prominence. Not just in the Lakers and what theyd become but he had a plan. And we just talked about how cool it would be if we could actually end up playing together, but I hardly gave it a thought, because I thought there was no way they would trade me to the Lakers. The $24 million he purchased for the Lakers and Kings would be $95.57 million in today's money. She is also survived by many nieces and nephews. That was my reaction. I was a dominant player in Games 2 through 6, and we got over the hump finally. He loved plays, and he wanted the focus to be on the athletes and the court. That was a long process, too, and stressful. We were playing for not just ourselves but everybody. You dont realize these things until you get my age, that you have these kinds of people, that theyre not just your boss. We talked for about an hour and a half, two hours, and I decided to believe in him, and he believed in me. I had been a coach for three years, and I told him no, this is not something I should do. Thats how I try to live. 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. Daniel's 5th outing as Bond gets bums back on seats in the cinema. Dr. Jerry Buss was a Wyoming kid with big eyes and a full heart living out his American Dream. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty follows Jerry Buss, the owner of the LA Lakers, as he tries to steer the newly acquired NBA team towards success. The money that everybody is making today he was the first one that saw outside that box, and he really moved the NBA to a whole other level by his out of the box thinking. So before I leave, he gives me an envelope, and he says, Give this to the person thats down there. So I go down there and give it to them, and there are six cars lined up there. Read More: Where is Jerry Buss Daughter Jeanie Buss Now? Laker Girls. In 1979, Buss bought the Lakers, the NHL's Kings and The Forum, where the Lakers and Kings played their games, from Cooke in exchange for $67.5 million, the Chrysler Building and other properties. He would call me in some days and hed say Hey, hey, be a coach. He knew we had a great team, and he dealt with the good and the bad. 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. And he had his hands on everything. It didnt just happen. It would be decades later, at age 34, when Jerry made his first million. Kind of a unique thing, against the same team (Boston). 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. I remember his comments in the locker room, you can look it up, about removing a certain sentence in the English language. That was an absolutely incredible gesture on his part, which I always appreciated, to say the least. After hearing that from him, I decided to just trust him, and just stayed the course. Dr. Buss liked to go the horse races at Hollywood Park, and he was great at picking winners. I miss him a lot. He was once an heir to his father Jerry Busss kingdom, but insists the sports world never quite interested him. Sports ownership. That's why, when I created this new uniform, I wanted people to see that. HRH King Charles III. Luckily that first year the players, in spite of my lack of experience, we won the championship and the rest is history. The sale of the team would require a majority vote among the six children. 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. He had a brilliant mind, and he made a fortune in real estate because he was able to see the opportunity and bring everything together, and thats how he built his wealth. After the first time we lost to the Celtics in 2008, Dr. Buss and I talked and I said, Man I feel bad, we lost to the Celtics, I never want to bring that heartache to you and this organization ever again. He said, No, it sucks losing to them. I said, I promise to you well never lose to those (expletive) again. And then we wound up beating them two years later, and we thoroughly enjoyed that, by the way, after we beat them in Game 7. In January 2008, Buss donated $7.5 million to USC's Department of Chemistry to fund two endowed chairs and an endowed scholarship fund for chemistry graduate students; the two chairs were to be named after his mentors at USC, professors Sidney Benson and David Dows. Me coming from a DIII school, Im one of the youngest, unknown guys, lowest on the totem pole. In total, Jerry forked over $135million for the whole deal. He basically created premium seating, and nobody else was doing this stuff at the time. After the 2008 debacle, being able to redeem yourself in 2010, that made it extra special. 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. 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). To speak about what Dr. Buss meant to the Lakers and to basketball, to the NBA, period. Thats why we got together so much. 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. We were just talking friend to friend. Theyd fax over every scenario they had for Shaq trades. Son of Lydus Henry Buss and Jessie Mae Buss He focused on the team's marketing, commissioned the Laker Girls, and had movie stars appear in the crowd during games. And of course I went to greet at him and sat at his table until his guests got there. Ill never forget Jerry Buss. 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. 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. Dr. Buss had a way of communicating with everybody, whether you were 18 or 80, Dr. Buss could make you feel comfortable. Then in his third season owning the team, they ended up calling them the Laker Girls, and established a dance team. Jerry (West) was so happy. I have my head down, and he says, Coop, you know it was a great year for us, a lot of people didnt think that we could get this done, but here we are finally and we did it. So I said, Doc, what team am I going to? He goes, What are you talking about? I go, Doc, what team am I going to? Since Joey and Jesse were little, wed go to the card shop and buy basketball cards, and (Dr. Buss) would love to quiz them on the players. The importance of saying "I love you" during COVID-19, Effective ways of dealing with the grieving process, Solutions to show your sympathy safely during the Covid-19 pandemic. So in 1985, Im playing for Dr. Jerry Buss, and hes a legend. At the very end, wed get to business, and he always had an opinion. Johnny was previously married to Christy Curtis Buss and has at least two sons. Once you dealt with the media, you get on with your life. And when Dr. Buss said that, that was all our thinking. And while his relationship with his siblings is strained, he shares with them a reverence for their father. Funeral arrangement under the care ofFox Funeral Home, Fox Funeral Home 1116 N 19th St, Beatrice, NE 68310, St. John Lutheran Church 701 N 6th St, Beatrice, NE 68310. He called Jerry, and it was done. Ultimately we came back and made another offer and Lamar took it. To watch the franchise grow and see his influence on the Lakers, and more importantly, some of the things he did that teams in the league are still doing. He was the first one who recommended Angels and Demons, before it became a really big hit. In 2002, when the WNBA was restructured to give its teams individual owners, Buss took ownership of the Sparks. Its easy to say that he was the best sports owner around the world. He originally went into real estate investing in order to provide an income so he could continue teaching. 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. He was like a rebel, but in a good sense. I dont know if its Jerry West, or if its Magic, I dont know whats going on. I just couldnt believe it. Buss purchased the team, reported to be worth around $1 billion, in 1979. 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 inspired the Lakers' Showtime era with his vision that basketball games must be entertaining. 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. I was with Jerry West, (a.k.a.) And then when I came down to Miami, it was a whole new world for me down here. It wasnt that I was around Dr. Buss that much that I had to rely on him for something, but when you were around him damn he made you feel good. My dad changed the landscape of the NBA in terms of how he thought about the business. The NBA lost a great man. The bigger, the bolder, the better. And guess what, a few months later, it ended up happening, and our paths crossed and we had an incredible run and were able to win championships. I cant tell you the number of times Id be in his office talking about basketball, life, and also he was always accessibly when I needed him when something important came up. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. 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. All the while, he inspired fondness and loyalty amongst his family, players, employees and fans. Every championship, wed go celebrate away from everybody. We were down, and it was that same old thing. During his induction into the NBA Hall of Fame in 2010, Magic Johnson called Jerry a master at building a team.. We had a bunch of ideal guys Kareem Abdul Jabbar and James Worthy next to Earvin. But now I realize, you actually really know your (stuff)! Then he started asking for my opinion on things. He was a very intuitive guy, said Steiner. From his home in Northridge, Johnny Buss asked his young sons to give him a moment so he could make a phone call. 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. It wasnt just owner-athlete relationship, it was more like a family with his employees. Jerry's 66 percent ownership of the team passed to each of his six children via a trust, equating to 11 percent per child. So all we could do was try to stay together and do what he asked us to do and that was to make as much money as possible. After Jerry's death, his children took up various roles within the organization, with Jeanie Buss ultimately becoming the president and controlling owner of the Lakers.She was only 17 when her father bought the team, and she held various managerial roles over the years, with the team winning the title in 2020. He promoted concerts at the Forum. In the process of that, we worked Kobe out one day against two guys who were supposedly going to be drafted higher than him, and it was ridiculous. His two things he was mainly focused on was winning championships, getting the Lakers back to that level, and being a family man, being a father to his children. His patience stands out (to me) the most. Have you ever seen anybody win the lottery? 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. From online or printed sources and from publicly accessible databases. We just clicked. (My decision to stay) was 100 percent Dr. Buss. 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. This is the way owners should operate. Later it was Miller Genuine Draft. Kinda rustic. When Jerry Buss passed away in 2013, his 66% ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers passed to his six children, with each receiving 11%. There was no question about that. He has put the Lakers right up there with the New York Yankees as the top brands in sports. I had been a coach for three years, and established a dance team, they up. 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