Fresh Heir for the Lakers

Meet the new Buss.

Actually, Jim Buss, elder son and now the designated successor to his father, Jerry, as Laker owner, says he has been involved for eight years. It’s just that no one noticed.

Those days ended last season, when he went from role player to owner in training. His father began noting pointedly that Jim, who trained horses until he was 37 and only then became a part of the Laker organization, would replace him. Soon, Jim Buss was included in decisions at the highest level.

There also was a promotion from assistant general manager, a job title he shared with Ronnie Lester, to the one on the card Jim handed out Tuesday: vice president of player personnel/alternate governor.

This, of course, raises questions: How long will his father stick around? And when he retires, what then?

“I don’t see why he has to retire on major decisions,” said Jim, casually dressed in a blue tropical shirt and a blue baseball cap, in a here-he-is-world interview with Laker beat writers in the team’s El Segundo offices.

“The more I learn, I think, until he passes away, I think he should have that final decision. I’m talking major decisions. I’m not talking about Aaron McKie. That’s a decision, it’s a major decision, but that kind of decision, he doesn’t have to make. He can let [General Manager Mitch Kupchak] and myself talk that out and go the direction we want to go. But major decisions, like the trading of Shaq [O’Neal] or something like that ...

“I just don’t see him retiring on major decisions. I know I find my sister and I doing more and more with the board of directors and that kind of stuff. I think he’s easing himself out of those responsibilities. But he’s on those [league] committees where you’re appointed and that’s where I need to try to get. If I can get to that spot where the commissioner is comfortable with me on the committees, I think my dad will really back down a lot.”

In general, Buss the younger conducted himself professionally, a performance at odds with his rollicking say-anything image in the days before he knew people would be paying attention to everything he said.

Here’s how Tuesday’s session went:

Question: Why did you wait so long before going to work for the Lakers?

Answer: I had told my dad I would rather work for myself and that was when I started training horses. And I was kind of burned out on the family business. Not the family business, but -- I don’t know how to say it -- I wanted to work for the Lakers, but at that time, there was no position for me to do that. I didn’t want to take a position at the Forum without having some true responsibility so I turned to horse racing because it was a true passion of mine.

I learned from the bottom up. I used to groom horses, I worked with the shoers, the vets. It taught me to learn a profession from the bottom up. I was fairly successful as a trainer, but I told my dad, the second he wants to ease out of the Lakers, I’ll stop training and come in.

He just basically gave me a call one day and said, “You know what? I think it’s time you come in and start working with Jerry [West] and start working your way up.” And that’s what I did.

Q: When you were training horses, did you ever envision this?

A: I envisioned me getting to the point where I am now and I’m very happy that it happened. It’s the way to learn. Having all these guys, Jerry West, Mitch, Ronnie, you’re surrounded by all these guys who are great teachers. I’ve had eight years of teaching and I’m learning every day.

When I hear somebody say, “Are you qualified?” I’m like, “If you had eight years of Jerry West plus Mitch Kupchak and all the talented scouts working on a daily basis tutoring you, I don’t know what other credentials you could have.”

Q: A lot of your image stems from a 1997 Sports Illustrated article in which you were quoted as saying 10 guys in a bar could draft as well as NBA scouts.

A: That’s one of the cheapest shots I’ve ever seen. I said those words, but you saw the dot, dot, dot afterwards [an ellipsis, denoting a break in the quote]. Basically, what I was saying was, I was complimenting our scouts, not cutting them up.... What I was meaning was, our Laker scouts, when you pick from No. 20 to 30, you really have to work to find a diamond in the rough because that’s where they’re picking every year.

Q: In the same story, you said that one day you hoped to be the GM.

A: That’s not where I’m headed. I guess at that time it was more -- that was in ‘97, so that was when I had just started.

My aspirations aren’t to go after the GM job. I love Mitch. I work super with him. He went on vacation for a week and I felt like I lost something there. It was pretty strange. That’s how connected we are together and I’m not headed in that direction at all. I’m in between my dad and him. And eventually my dad retires and that’s it.

Q: What’s your relationship with Phil Jackson, your coach who also dates your sister?

A: He dates my sister? Holy cow. Don’t tell me that! I wondered why they were hanging out a lot....

The personal side, he’s my sister’s boyfriend. I love the man. I keep threatening him. I keep saying I’ll go to Montana [where Jackson has a summer home]. He keeps saying there are no flights there, you can’t get there.

But when it comes to the professional side, I’m professional about it. If I don’t like what he’s doing, I’m going to let him know. But that’s professional. It has nothing to do with the personal side. And if I like what he’s doing, I’m going to tell him about that too. And, of course, I like what he’s doing.

Q: Is it an uphill battle, being known as Jerry Buss’ son?

A: As long as I’m doing something I’m comfortable with and I know I’m doing the best I can, then it doesn’t bother me what people think, so it’s not an uphill battle.

The only time I’ll have a question on myself is if I’m doing a good job. Just me, personally, I’ll struggle with that.... The horses, you can have stats, that helps a lot. If I was doing a good job, it kind of shows, how much money is coming in, how much money is going out....

But this job, I wonder if I’m doing a good job or not. So every once in a while Mitch will say something nice.