We were big into collecting basketball cards growing up. What do you think. Or to USC football games. He promoted concerts at the Forum. Coach him. On Feb. 13 of 1987, I found out from the Spurs trainer that I had been traded to the Lakers. I was just told that he was having this picnic for employees, and how cool that was. I hope he was looking down happy, and we hoped that the Buss family was happy with everything. Dr. Buss liked to go the horse races at Hollywood Park, and he was great at picking winners. Thats when we found out about his enlarged aortic root. I played two years for Mr. Cooke, so I could really see the difference (right away). We didnt plan to meet, but after work one time, I stopped at Dan Tanas by myself. After a brief stint in the aerospace industry, Buss began working as a professor at the University of Southern California in the Chemistry department. I walked in and (Dr. Buss) called me over to his table and I sat next to him. She is survived by : her children, Gail Kruse (Jim) of Sunrise Beach, MO and Jerry Buss of Beatrice; her grandchildren, Jennifer Surface (Matt), Brooke Pohlman (Jordan), Kelsey Weishahn (Spencer), Abbee Buss, Bryce Buss (Cheyanne) and Abby Morgan (Tristan); her great grandchildren, Kaysee Meyer, Collin Surface, River Morgan and Weishahn; her siblings, Anora Schoen and Ron Busboom (Verla); and her siblings-in-law, Marlene Busboom, Karen Buss, Betty St. Clair and Kenny Miller. He had to liquidate everything, practically, to get it. The first hour was always just talking and telling stories and visiting. I remember being in the Finals against Philadelphia, and we were at the hotel bar of the team hotel. He was talking about wanting to get out of Memphis and all this stuff, and Im like, Man itd be great if we could play together. Ive always had respect for him, known his family. Thats one thing different about Dr. Buss different from owners back in the day he was a celebrity too. I thought their relationship was great. Today, it's about celebrating his life, his contributions to the city of LA and his inimitable. In 1978, they moved to the Forum from the Sports Arena, and my dad was a big sports fan, so hed go to Laker games. At the end of the day, I said, I think we have better players around you here than you do in Orlando. Later on, Dancing Barry. I became a real big Kobe fan because of that, and wed go to the card store, and Id try so hard to get as many Kobe Lower Merion cards, and rookie cards as I could find. If we werent playing well, he would just show up at practice, unannounced, wouldnt say anything. All the other times, wed go to Las Vegas. Dont be afraid of him just because hes Kareem, just because hes Magic. All relationship and family history information shown on FameChain has been compiled from data in the public domain. He was one of a kind, man. Am I going to have to go back to serve the army? Magics mom was a Seventh Day Adventist, and they have similar dietary restrictions as Muslims, and she was aware of my faith, so she would cook for me and take care of me when I was on the road and wed cut through and play in Detroit. The NBA lost a great man. I miss him a lot. Our first year! And then we went to the hotel and we danced all night. We were just sitting there talking, and that was a pretty special moment. It was a great relationship for a number of years. We would see each other during the summer, and I remember playing against the Lakers in those preseason games in Las Vegas, and he was always kind and always made sure he came to say hi. "My dream really was to have the Lakers and Los Angeles identified as one and the same," Buss said in a 2010 interview with ESPNLosAngeles.com. After hearing that from him, I decided to just trust him, and just stayed the course. And there were always all these hours spent talking basketball, and him trying to prep me for a bigger role. I remember the first game that we played in Michigan*, at the Silver Dome, and it was a home game for us. He had a 66 percent stake in the team when he died, and judging by the trust he set up years ago to hold the ownership stake, it has long been his intention to keep the Lakers in the Buss family. Dr. Buss was incredibly intuitive and in touch with the fans from a business standpoint. Click here to Start FameChaining. Although not much is known about Buss partners, he was married from 1983 to 1985 and is a father. A lot of good times, and so much success on the court. He was just really conscious of people around him and respected people that worked for him. He was once an heir to his father Jerry Busss kingdom, but insists the sports world never quite interested him. The Forum Club theres never been a hotter night club within a building. On May 29, 2007, Buss was issued a citation for driving under the influence after two California Highway Patrol officers saw him driving his gold Mercedes-Benz on the wrong side of the road in the coastal community of Carlsbad in northern San Diego County, with a 23-year-old woman passenger. In the summer of 1986, I had no idea that I was about to be traded to San Antonio. Im this young guy out of UCLA, and when you first meet him coming into the locker room, and he comes to shake your hand, theres no greater form of nervousness in this town at that point in time. To watch the franchise grow and see his influence on the Lakers, and more importantly, some of the things he did that teams in the league are still doing. He was also able to snag the Kings hockey team, the Inglewood Forum, and the 13,000-acre Raljon Ranch in the Sierra Nevada mountains from businessman Jack Kent Cooke. Never raised his voice, and that inspired people. It was California Pizza Kitchen wed always order out and wed meet for a couple of hours. New Jersey in 2002 was great; we stayed in New York. In total, Jerry forked over $135million for the whole deal. Some owners look at it like a business, only. After all the experiences Ive had in pro sports, Ive never had a better owner. Son of Lydus Henry Buss and Jessie Mae Buss People knew him. It was in that year when Jerry was able to pull off the most complicated and lucrative transaction in sports history - buying the Lakers. Laker Girls. Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, who presided over a team that won 10 NBA titles and showcased some of the biggest names in professional basketball, died Monday. Create a franchise that was worth billions., Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli. From online or printed sources and from publicly accessible databases. Back then, you could drive in right off the street. He was the first to see this league as the entertainment value that it is. MORE:How to watch Lakers documentary on Hulu. Bryant captured two more rings without O'Neal to close out that decade. The purchase price, $67.5 million, made it the largest transaction in sports history at that time. After a decade of competitive teams that werent yet contenders, Dr. Buss and Jerry West signed free agent Shaquille ONeal, and traded for teenager Kobe Bryant, in 1996, then eventually brought Phil Jackson in to set up the next run of Lakers championships. I knew he and Magic were really close. He would empower the people that worked for him, and hed be a problem solver. When Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers back in 1979, he turned a perennial second-place franchise into a pillar of excellence. We really were a family, and we were intact as a team, and all the families were invested. I remember the locker room celebration with Dr. Buss after we won Game 6 in L.A., and he was just like the rest of us sitting at the bar just talking and kibitzing. I remember wed just won the championship against the Pacers, and he took us down on the floor. Never talked down to people. New Jersey was going to draft him at seven, which they did not. Explore how the celebrity world connects. Thats why when hed make a decision, hed take the time to explain to me the thought process behind it, so Id always know where that decision was coming from and why he believed in particular. An ensuing lawsuit split the family. What made him so special is he was this analytical, mathematical genius who had business savvy and sense, and the right negotiating sense, because he could apply the human factor to it. Buss earned a scholarship to the University of Wyoming, graduating with a B.S. He really maximized his time and was very efficient with his time, and he knew later on that he didnt have much time left. We actually ended up making an offer, and then taking the offer off the table, because it still was not acceptable. We all know that Dr. Buss was the first to bring in a dance team, and he felt it was equal opportunity. All six of his children worked. We made it a mission to play them again in 1985, to prove to ourselves and the world that we could beat them. He originally went into real estate investing in order to provide an income so he could continue teaching. We were down, and it was that same old thing. Pat learned his job on the fly. He knew that he had this hot team in the Lakers in the early years of Showtime, but the Kings were always a tough sell. Later on in the day, Dr. Buss was having a picnic for all his employees. So its strange to have a guy whos your mentor, father figure and best friend all rolled into one And then when Jeanie called me (to share the news that he had passed away (one of the) toughest days in my life. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. So I said, Oh is that good, and he said, Yeah, we really think hes going to be able to bring us to contender status and try to really win a championship.. She was predeceased by : her husband Gerald Buss; her sons, Phil Buss and Chris Buss; her parents, Ehme Busboom and Jennie Busboom (Ideus); her siblings, Rosie Miller and Gerald Busboom; her siblings-in-law, Barbara Wrightsman (Don) and Robert Schoen; and her parents-in-law, Herman and Alvina Buss. Jerry was soft spoken, he had a great charm about him, and was just a unique person who believed in me for a long time, and I dont think in my life Ive ever had anybody who was as straight forward with me as him. We shared a hobby as coin collectors, and Dr. Buss owned some really important coins, and I was aware of that. (Eventually) I became his eyes and ears about college players. I was a nervous wreck the entire game, and we won the game, and I delivered the best that I could at the time. His father, Lydus, was an accountant who went on to teach statistics at Berkeley. But I hadnt seen him yet. Buss became an owner in World Team Tennis, the Los Angeles Strings. He was a little bit more military stylistic of leadership than Jerry was. I think the operative words from Dr. Buss message to Kobe were, Trust me Ive done things in my life, where when I say Im going to work this thing out, trust me, were going to work this thing out. I never envisioned that his trust me would end up with the kind of deal that he pulled off getting Pau. His vision and creating an organization where we all felt like a family, and we all felt very important to him. She surprised us doing a great job running the Forum. My dad just figured hed last another 10 years and that Joey and Jesse would start taking over the basketball side and Jimmy would start retiring and that would be it. Because he found out very quick that I was very serious about winning, and he respected that. One of the things he said is the most important thing about business is just having patience. We were all super excited to see him play, and one of the referees threw him out early on for arguing calls. In contrast, Buss sons are primarily absent from the narrative for the most part. But it was one of the toughest things Ive encountered physically, mentally and emotionally. Many Los Angeles Lakers fans mourned the passing of the team's primary owner, Jerry Buss, on Monday. I thought he was really sincere about the things that he always said, so thats what I appreciated the most about him. Theres a picture I have in my office where guys are grabbing his shoulders, throwing champagne on him, Im messing his hair up. Coming through life, there are some people that you look at as more than a friend, more than a boss. 1 seed in West, Another Trevor Bauer defamation suit is thrown out. His vision inspired us and gave us the OK to be, sometimes, and thats pretty cool. Buss also owned the Los Angeles Lazers of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Buss purchased the team, reported to be worth around $1 billion, in 1979. I had someone in my mind, me coming from the South, who was going to be really distinguished and have a suit on, and youd be able to know who the owner was right away as soon as you seen him. One of the great things about my dad is that no matter how successful he was, and no matter how much in the public spotlight he was, he always valued his family. Jerry Buss has six children. We werent always making money; it was a passion for him. He lost some weight worrying about whether he was going to be able to convince the big fella to come West. I was working with Chick Hearn in the broadcast booth, but I remember meeting him at the Forum and had a very, very light discussion about the real estate business, and then I realized I was renting one of his apartments in Santa Monica, he and Frank Mariani. My father, Dr. Jerry Buss, holds the honor of being the most successful owner in the history of professional sports. He showed that you dont really have to lock yourself down in one area as a person. Now, after we won the title that first year in 1999-2000, Id go back to Dr. Buss to ask for approval of updated price codes, and Id have a document that compared last years price codes to what I was suggesting for the 2000-01 season. When he said that on the podium at the Forum, we were just trying to celebrate the previous title, but he knew what he was doing. So he went to Jerry West, and said, weve got to get somebody to come and get us back to winning. But they dont know what happened behind the scenes, and thats what we wanted to show, is what goes on after the game and the effect that winning has on people, on a family.. I get up, I go there at 10 a.m. to his office (at the Forum) and they tell me I have to wait, Dr. Buss is in a meeting with Jerry West. 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