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(Ben Baker) |
Being the most successful owner in sports history isn't what Dr. Jerry Buss planned. His intentions were actually far more modest. "His goal was to always have enough money to own season tickets," Buss' daughter Jeanie says. "He never thought he would own a team."
Well, Gerald Hatten Buss doesn't just own a team, he owns the Los Angeles Lakersยand has since 1979. His boys have won eight NBA titles, a feat unmatched by any owner in the four major sports. During Buss' tenure, the Lakers have reached the NBA Finals 14 times in 29 years. Imagine if a football team made the Super Bowl every other year for 30 years. It's nearly unfathomable.
Buss didn't arrive in L.A. with hoop dreams. He came from Wyoming in the 1950s to attend USC, earning a doctorate in physical chemistry at 24 and making his money as a real-estate developer. In 1979ยin a purchase the New York Times called "the largest single financial transaction in the history of professional sports"ยBuss bought the Lakers, hockey's L.A. Kings, the Forum and a ranch from the late Jack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million. Now, Forbes says, the Lakers alone are worth at least $584 million.
The prestige of the Lakers goes far beyond titles and moneyยthe team is the signature sports franchise of L.A. Courtside seats, which are rarely available, sell for $2,600 per game. In a city full of A-lists, it would be near impossible to find a more star-studded crowd than at a Lakers home game. It is not unusual to see a studio head sitting next to the mayor, who is across from both Jack Nicholson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But now, at 76, Buss feels it's time to step back. And while he would amass a fortune if he sold the team, he won't. "I've been offered extravagant amounts," he says. "The team is not for sale." Instead, he's gradually turning it over to his children. Buss had four kids with ex-wife JoAnn: Johnny (52), Jim (49), Jeanie (47) and Janie (45). Later. he had two with now ex-girlfriend Karen Demel: Joey (24) and Jesse (21).
Some fans are understandably nervous at the prospect of a generational transfer: The pro-sports landscape is full of stories of rich men leaving teams to their kids, only to watch infighting and mismanagement ruin the franchise.
A while back, Buss met with his kids individually and offered to sell the team and divide the proceeds. Nobody would take the money and run. "I asked each if it was me who loved the Lakers or is it us? They felt living in L.A. and not owning the Lakers would be unacceptable."
"It's in our blood," says Jim. "It wasn't even a thought to sell."
His kids claim their dad has left a near-perfect ownership blueprint. "I'm totally comfortable with them taking over," Buss says. He has already turned the business aspect of the team over to Jeanie, who now works out of his office ("I moved in there reluctantly; I still call it his," she says). Jim is set to take over the basketball operations any day now, and in many ways, he already has.
Lakers 2.0
Now it's time to meet the Buss offspring. Under each name is the best piece of business advice ever received from dad...
JEANIE
The succession plan started with Jeanie, now executive vice president of business operations. Her on-the-job training included running two pro franchisesยthe L.A. Strings tennis team and the L.A. Blades roller hockey team. She was also promoting live events at the Forum. In 2005, Sporting News named her one of the 20 Most Influential Women in Sports. Today she is involved in all aspects of the Lakers and represents the team at most NBA meetings. "My dad groomed me to get to this position," Jeanie says.
"She's driven and willing to accept any challenge," Jerry concurs. She is always thereยand if it has to be until midnight, seven days a week, she'll do it."
Not that their relationship hasn't had a few twists. In May of 1995, Jeanie posed for Playboy on top of her dad's desk. (Buss claims it's the only issue he's never looked at.) She laughs now, saying he "was totally supportive and handled it perfectly." Five years later, she began dating her dad's highest-profile employee, Lakers coach Phil Jacksonยwho is 16 years her senior. They are still together. She decided to tell her dad before he heard it from anybody else, and she had no idea how he would react. "I knew my relationship with Phil had to have full disclosureยwe weren't going to sneak around," Jeanie says. "Otherwise I would lose all of my credibility in the company. So I sit down with him, and the first thing he says is, ยI always thought you should date somebody older.' He was a dad first."
"If she was 18 and going out with a man Phil's age, I might have reacted differently," says Jerry. "At this stage of the game, she's a mature adult and has been for years. I just said, ยI hope you're happy.' "
JIM
From 1998 to 2004, Jim was assistant to general manager Mitch Kupchak; he is currently Vice President of Player Personnel. Now, Jerry says, "He'll replace me."
As recently as 11 years ago, most insiders would have thought that unlikely. Jim was involved in sports but as a trainer of thoroughbreds. When his dad asked him to learn the on-the-court aspects of the Lakers, Jim began a crash course in basketball management unlike any undertaken before. "I try to learn as much as I possibly can from people who have worked the game very, very hard. I'm surrounded by incredible people, as far as draining knowledge from them: Phil Jackson, Jerry West, Mitch Kupchak, Ronnie Lester, Frank Hamblen, Kurt Rambis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and many others. If you take a step back, I've got an incredible teaching ground."
Well, Gerald Hatten Buss doesn't just own a team, he owns the Los Angeles Lakersยand has since 1979. His boys have won eight NBA titles, a feat unmatched by any owner in the four major sports. During Buss' tenure, the Lakers have reached the NBA Finals 14 times in 29 years. Imagine if a football team made the Super Bowl every other year for 30 years. It's nearly unfathomable.
Buss didn't arrive in L.A. with hoop dreams. He came from Wyoming in the 1950s to attend USC, earning a doctorate in physical chemistry at 24 and making his money as a real-estate developer. In 1979ยin a purchase the New York Times called "the largest single financial transaction in the history of professional sports"ยBuss bought the Lakers, hockey's L.A. Kings, the Forum and a ranch from the late Jack Kent Cooke for $67.5 million. Now, Forbes says, the Lakers alone are worth at least $584 million.
The prestige of the Lakers goes far beyond titles and moneyยthe team is the signature sports franchise of L.A. Courtside seats, which are rarely available, sell for $2,600 per game. In a city full of A-lists, it would be near impossible to find a more star-studded crowd than at a Lakers home game. It is not unusual to see a studio head sitting next to the mayor, who is across from both Jack Nicholson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But now, at 76, Buss feels it's time to step back. And while he would amass a fortune if he sold the team, he won't. "I've been offered extravagant amounts," he says. "The team is not for sale." Instead, he's gradually turning it over to his children. Buss had four kids with ex-wife JoAnn: Johnny (52), Jim (49), Jeanie (47) and Janie (45). Later. he had two with now ex-girlfriend Karen Demel: Joey (24) and Jesse (21).
Some fans are understandably nervous at the prospect of a generational transfer: The pro-sports landscape is full of stories of rich men leaving teams to their kids, only to watch infighting and mismanagement ruin the franchise.
A while back, Buss met with his kids individually and offered to sell the team and divide the proceeds. Nobody would take the money and run. "I asked each if it was me who loved the Lakers or is it us? They felt living in L.A. and not owning the Lakers would be unacceptable."
"It's in our blood," says Jim. "It wasn't even a thought to sell."
His kids claim their dad has left a near-perfect ownership blueprint. "I'm totally comfortable with them taking over," Buss says. He has already turned the business aspect of the team over to Jeanie, who now works out of his office ("I moved in there reluctantly; I still call it his," she says). Jim is set to take over the basketball operations any day now, and in many ways, he already has.
Lakers 2.0
Now it's time to meet the Buss offspring. Under each name is the best piece of business advice ever received from dad...
JEANIE
The succession plan started with Jeanie, now executive vice president of business operations. Her on-the-job training included running two pro franchisesยthe L.A. Strings tennis team and the L.A. Blades roller hockey team. She was also promoting live events at the Forum. In 2005, Sporting News named her one of the 20 Most Influential Women in Sports. Today she is involved in all aspects of the Lakers and represents the team at most NBA meetings. "My dad groomed me to get to this position," Jeanie says.
"She's driven and willing to accept any challenge," Jerry concurs. She is always thereยand if it has to be until midnight, seven days a week, she'll do it."
Not that their relationship hasn't had a few twists. In May of 1995, Jeanie posed for Playboy on top of her dad's desk. (Buss claims it's the only issue he's never looked at.) She laughs now, saying he "was totally supportive and handled it perfectly." Five years later, she began dating her dad's highest-profile employee, Lakers coach Phil Jacksonยwho is 16 years her senior. They are still together. She decided to tell her dad before he heard it from anybody else, and she had no idea how he would react. "I knew my relationship with Phil had to have full disclosureยwe weren't going to sneak around," Jeanie says. "Otherwise I would lose all of my credibility in the company. So I sit down with him, and the first thing he says is, ยI always thought you should date somebody older.' He was a dad first."
"If she was 18 and going out with a man Phil's age, I might have reacted differently," says Jerry. "At this stage of the game, she's a mature adult and has been for years. I just said, ยI hope you're happy.' "
JIM
From 1998 to 2004, Jim was assistant to general manager Mitch Kupchak; he is currently Vice President of Player Personnel. Now, Jerry says, "He'll replace me."
As recently as 11 years ago, most insiders would have thought that unlikely. Jim was involved in sports but as a trainer of thoroughbreds. When his dad asked him to learn the on-the-court aspects of the Lakers, Jim began a crash course in basketball management unlike any undertaken before. "I try to learn as much as I possibly can from people who have worked the game very, very hard. I'm surrounded by incredible people, as far as draining knowledge from them: Phil Jackson, Jerry West, Mitch Kupchak, Ronnie Lester, Frank Hamblen, Kurt Rambis, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and many others. If you take a step back, I've got an incredible teaching ground."
L.A. for less than the price of sunblock. 
