After separation from Mueller, Buss dated Karen Demel and had two children: Joey Buss (born in 1985) and Jesse Buss (born in 1988). Real Name Age Family And Twitter ExploredContinue, Ryan Haywood is an American voice actor, YouTuber, and Internet personality. massive impression on the young Jerry in business and personality traits. But one things I remember that stood out to me, as nice as Dr. Buss was, he was really a good owner but he looked at me and said, Look, I understand youre upset. 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. A teacher doesnt turn off the student with a tone of voice. Later on, Dancing Barry. find out. I think his father was a coal miner, if I remember correctly, and we shared a lot of personal things that you share if you like each other. Buss purchased the team, reported to be worth around $1 billion, in 1979. It is believed to be correct at the time of inputting and is presented here in good faith. The two endowed chairs were named after his mentors at USC, professor David Dows and Sidney Benson. 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. My family is from the islands, so the West Indies part of his background resonated with me also. My first initial meeting I was kind of thrown back, because he didnt seem like an owner. to wait long for the trophies to start rolling in. I thought, Wow, this is awesome. As a millionaire businessman and real estate investor, Jerry was also fond of playing poker. 6 Reasons Why You Should Never Count Cards, Online Poker vs Live Poker: 9 Key Differences You Need To Know. Buss was an inaugural member of the USC College Board of Councilors. Jerry Buss's age was 80 years old at the time of his death. 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. So he lined things up, and Id get samples, and wed talk it through, and hed say, Oh! And I remember I was working as a scout when my dad called and let me know about us acquiring Pau Gasol. 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. It was very personal with him. Dr. Buss used to come down to the locker room after every game, starting in the 1981-82 season. Really cool. Obviously he went to USC, and he loved the band. That meant a lot to us at that particular time, because it was a very difficult time, uncertain. Many Los Angeles Lakers fans mourned the passing of the team's primary owner, Jerry Buss, on Monday. But then right away, the Lakers started winning championships, and Showtime was coined, and little did I know that Id get a chance to join them years later. Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come.. Dr. Buss knew his team needed more wins than losses, but he also knew they needed to entertain. He did not yell and scream at me. Once that game got going, he was into it. And he had his hands on everything. He created new revenue streams; thats why everybody has a club now. 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. [10] Buss later sold his controlling interest in the Kings to Bruce McNall in 1988 (who made headlines that year by trading for Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers), retaining ownership of the Lakers and The Forum. His contributions to basketball were recognized by his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. And he loved Italian food. We never had any problems to talk about, except for any games that we might lose. And then we went and celebrated together again. Theyre respectful, theyre loyal and theyre good to other people as human beings. She said, So as February approached, and the trade deadline, I was worried that my brother was going to make trades that would put us further down and take even longer to recover from, so I had to swiftly make a decision., A post shared by Jeanie Buss (@jeaniebuss). That was a long process, too, and stressful. One story showed how appreciative he was for the work that he did, and for playing hard for the city of Los Angeles. It was really tremendous. He wanted me to be the highest paid assistant in the NBA. 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. It was this big weight had been taken off of his back. Until last week when Jeanie Buss fired her brother Jim Buss, all six children spanning 31 years in age from eldest to youngest worked within the Lakers' organization or for the team's NBA. He left the organization in good hands Jeanie is a great owner, too. February 18, 2013, aged 80. He would empower the people that worked for him, and hed be a problem solver. However, Johnny stated that he did not wish to be a part of the family business. Gerald Hatten Buss, known as Jerry Buss, was one of the owners of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Sparks. With all of the great players and coaches on one hand and the management and staff on the other under the leadership of Dr. Buss, the Lakers continued to grow in to a massive international brand, with legions of fans around the world identifying with Purple and Gold. We werent always making money; it was a passion for him. It was about how thankful he was to me for helping to enhance his brand. Not only were the Lakers I was there with my wife; wed just gotten married the year before. This 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. So, we were preparing for the offseason in 1996 when we signed Shaq and traded for the rights to draft Kobe. Naming rights. Could you imagine sitting in the front row for every concert? Moreover, his father was an accountant at Berkeley who taught statistics. the great depression era in the US. 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. It was a nice event, because hed ask every player and every coach to say a few words, and it was a nice atmosphere. He was in the entertainment business. Then due to (certain circumstances), Jerry wanted us to be co-coaches. Buss got married to Joann Mueller, but their marriage didn't last long. Hes already done the math in his head. 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. 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.) She became the first colleagues also commented on Busss personality and generosity in their 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. Notwithstanding, she is embraced and she has composed a book named Late for the Buss: A . [3][15][16] Their oldest child, Lee, was put up for adoption shortly after birth. After a short time in the aerospace industry, he and his friend Frank Mariani went into real estate, the firm of Mariani-Buss Associates seeing immediate success. He noticed for a few years that the owner, Jack Kent Cooke, was not attending Laker games. Any age group, any ethnic group. County in 2007. And he said, I have one suggestion for you, Tim: Its really bright in here. I said, It is. He loved being around the guys. I think theres a lot of money in it. The thing he taught me the best is that he maximized his days. And what Jerry Buss always wanted to accomplish was to have one of those players on his team, the Showtime part of it. US based Meghan and Harry.. FameChain has their amazing trees. You could see it. All relationship and family history information shown on FameChain has been compiled from data in the public domain. Jim worked as the President of Los Angeles Lazers from 1985 (to 1989), succeeding his elder brother in the role. worked for the LA Lakers when he died in 2013. I played two years for Mr. Cooke, so I could really see the difference (right away). I guess it took everyone by surprise, but actually it worked out great for him, great for the Lakers, and he went on to produce some championship teams here in Los Angeles. He had a remarkable vision about how he wanted to see this team play. They won the NBA His first investment in the 1960s was $1,000 in a West Los Angeles apartment building. [22] On February 14, 2013, four days before his death, it was revealed that Buss had been battling cancer since 2012. Ill never forget Jerry Buss. However, at the age of 80, Buss was still an active person who owned a professional basketball team and contributed to several sports franchises. The team folded in 1989 and the league folded three years later. to happen to the LA Kings for decades happened shortly after Buss sold the He put his imprint on the league fast, and then we win the championship too? Celebrate the Life and Accomplishments of Dr. Jerry Buss. He purchased the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA along with the Los Angeles Kings hockey team of the NHL, The Forum (all for a then-record combined $67.5 million for those three properties[9]), and a large ranch from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979, in a deal that also transferred ownership of the Chrysler Building. It was an important economic trend, another thing that he identified, and brought the NBA into more prominence. At the time, we were marveling at how much a Michael Jordan rookie card was in the early 1990s. I remember watching those games with my dad. He talked to the janitors, the people that cleaned Staples Center. So I became obsessed with it, and how that process worked. I remember growing up in the 1990s, and often losing to the best teams in the West, like the Supersonics, and then the Jazz. New Jersey was going to draft him at seven, which they did not. coached by Jackson. 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. 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. It wasnt even in my mind. Im still not quite sure what possessed him to have me do it that time. Like his biological We would go to Italy a lot, and we were staying at the Hotel Le Boulevard in Venice on the island of Lido when we had to trade Shaq. Or hed ask us about contracts, and certain trade scenarios. After Jerry's death, his children took up various roles within [] You werent just a spreadsheet to him. The Kings were okay But do note that it is not possible to be certain of a person's genealogy without a family's cooperation (and/or DNA testing). Theres a picture I have in my office where guys are grabbing his shoulders, throwing champagne on him, Im messing his hair up. I dont think theres any thrill in it. 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. [26] Buss was buried on February 22 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) in a private ceremony with family and close friends. The Lakers are on fire. The team was dominant Its very hard to achieve that level of success. All that was because my dad sat me down and said he thought Kobe was going to be a real good player. Jim played an important role in the teams scouting decisions and worked his way up the sports teams hierarchy. Nights after the game, hed tease me, because wed go to have dinner at Dan Tanas or somewhere like that, and Id say, I have to go home, we have practice in the morning. And hed say, Thats why I love you. 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