Buss Released From Hospital

Feeling better and fairly mortified that a night out Tuesday would become such a spectacle, Jerry Buss returned to the business of running the Lakers on Wednesday.

Buss, who apparently suffered a pinched nerve in his neck while attending the Carousel of Hope Ball at the Beverly Hilton, was released from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center early Wednesday morning after undergoing several tests, team officials said.

Buss, 69, rested at home Wednesday after fielding telephone calls from friends and relatives for most of the night, according to Jeanie Buss, his daughter and the Lakers’ vice president of business operations.

Indeed, Jerry Buss told her he was feeling well enough to attend the Ball’s post-party on Wednesday night and an exhibition game between the Lakers and the Golden State Warriors tonight in Anaheim.

“He’s doing great and he sounds great,” Jeanie Buss said. “He can’t believe everybody made a big deal of it.”

According to his daughter, Buss was enjoying his evening at one of the biggest social events of the year when he turned his head too quickly.

“The pain made him light-headed,” she said.

Buss was treated by paramedics at the scene and then was taken to the hospital, where he spent two hours.

He did not lose consciousness.

“I can see why everyone was concerned and I know he appreciates that,” Jeanie Buss said.

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Having jogged when he probably should have walked, or at least waited for permission to extend his rehabilitation plan, Shaquille O’Neal trudged off to his examination with Dr. Robert Mohr on Wednesday with some trepidation.

“I kind of wasn’t supposed to run on it, but it felt good,” O’Neal said.

“I’ll get yelled at by Dr. Mohr. I’ve already been yelled at by [trainer] Gary Vitti.”

After examining O’Neal, Mohr told the Lakers that the soreness in O’Neal’s toe was normal and that his recuperation could proceed as planned.

“We’re not concerned,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “This problem is something he’ll have to attach himself to for a couple of weeks and then it’ll pass.

“Obviously, we don’t expect to see him on the court in the exhibition season. But it’s not that far away before Shaq will be playing.”

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The Lakers practiced in front of 550 El Segundo grade school children on Wednesday morning as part of the NBA’s Read to Achieve program.... The Lakers play the Warriors at the Arrowhead Pond tonight at 7:30.