Not Many Fathers Get to Fire the Boyfriend

Talk about being in a tough spot. Because of Jeanie Buss’ father, her boyfriend, Phil Jackson, no longer has a job.

“I’m not the first woman whose boyfriend and father don’t get along,” Buss said at a recent L.A. Sports and Entertainment Commission “Basketball 101” seminar at Staples Center.

She added, “I’m now the national spokesperson for not mixing business and pleasure.”

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Trivia time: Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ executive vice president of business operations, in 1993 was named executive of the year by what sports league?

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Basketball pioneer: Tex Winter, 80, another participant in the “Basketball 101” seminar, spent 57 years in coaching.

“I didn’t invent the game of basketball, but I was there to hold the ladder for James Naismith,” he said.

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Essence of the game: Winter, maybe best known for developing the triangle offense, said at the seminar, “Basketball is a game of geometry.”

Replied John Salley, “I thought it was a game of egotistical maniacs.”

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A different style: Regarding a recent Morning Briefing item on former Laker Jim McMillian, a reader, Judge Kelvin D. Filer, e-mailed that when McMillian played his first game as a rookie, he went into the game with his shorts on backward.

Filer recalls Chick Hearn saying, “This All-American from Columbia, who was also an Academic All-American with a B+ average ... has his pants on backward!”

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Dishing it out: Reader Dick Van Kirk recalls this exchange between Hearn and broadcast partner Lynn Shackelford about plans for the off-season.

Shackelford: “My wife and I are going to Red China.”

Hearn: “Why are you going to Red China?”

Shackelford: “Because we’re tired of our blue China.”

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A perfect fit: Reader Alex Kaseberg says he got an e-mail announcing that 2004 Boston Red Sox World Series championship jackets were available.

“And, for a limited time, if you buy two Red Sox jackets, you get one official New York Yankee choke collar, free,” he said.

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Just plain ugly: In the November issue of GQ, Paul Lukas lists the best and worst sports uniforms. In the worst category are the Cincinnati Bengals’ uniforms of recent vintage.

“The basic concept of adorning a helmet with stripes instead of a logo is a good idea,” Lukas wrote. “Stripes on the shoulders and pants sound OK too. So why is the result such an eyesore?”

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Looking back: On this day in 1968, Red Berenson scored six goals to lead the St. Louis Blues to an 8-0 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers.

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Trivia time: Roller Hockey International. Buss was the owner of the Los Angeles Blades.

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And finally: Oakland Raider receiver Jerry Porter, in the San Francisco Chronicle, said after last Sunday’s 42-14 loss to the San Diego Chargers, “We’ve got a great team on paper, but that paper has already been through the shredder.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.