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15 hours ago
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How the Buss family made the Lakers a Hollywood marvel
Owner Jerry Buss displays the Larry O'Brien Trophy after the Lakers won the 1980 NBA championship. (NBAE via Getty Images) The story is so good, so rich, that Hollywood couldn't resist. The Lakers, a golden brand. The stars on the basketball court. The celebrities on the sidelines. The spotlight on the show flying up and down the floor 24 seconds at a time. Advertisement HBO made a series. Books have been authored. Documentaries have been filmed. No hyperbole is too outrageous. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird helped save basketball. The Lakers were the greatest show in town. The highs and lows, the devastation and the jubilation, made them iconic. And the ringmasters for the last 45 years have been the Buss family. That era culminated Wednesday when a majority of Buss' six children agreed to sell controlling interest of the franchise to Mark Walter for a record price — a $10-billion valuation that's the highest in pro sports history. Read more: Plaschke: Lakers had a great ride with Buss family, but Dodgers owner will give team new life Advertisement The initial reaction to the news — a sale that shocked the Lakers' biggest partners inside and outside of the NBA — centered on what it will mean for the organization. Will Walter and his partners pour the same financial resources that they've deployed to turn the Dodgers into the best team in baseball? How will their capital boost the weakest areas of the franchise's infrastructure? What will happen next? We don't know for sure. We do, though, know what just wrapped — an era of pro-sports ownership unrivaled in success and melodrama. The start Dr. Jerry Buss wasn't a physician — the title came from a degree in chemistry at USC. And the money? It didn't come from science. It came from real estate. But Buss was always one to sense an opportunity, and Jack Kent Cooke's record-breaking divorce settlement meant that he was about to capitalize on one. Advertisement In 1979, Buss scrambled to put together a wild business deal — properties and cash moving between Buss, third parties and Cooke before the self-made man ended up with The Forum, the Los Angeles Kings and, in what would be his legacy, the Los Angeles Lakers. The price was $67.5 million. The timing was impeccable. The team would win a coin flip and with it the right to select Johnson with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. Buss' and Johnson's relationship helped lay the groundwork for the player-empowerment era that dominates the current NBA, Buss realizing faster than his peers that the biggest and best players were what drove the league's success. In his first season as owner, the Lakers won an NBA title, kicking off a decade-long battle with the Boston Celtics that helped the NBA move from the margins of pro sports to the mainstream. In this 1979 photo, Lakers owner Jerry Buss is shown with children (clockwise from top left) Jeanie, Johnny, Jim and Janie. (Gunther / Yet it was more than Johnson leading fastbreaks, flashing smiles and dishing no-look passes. It was the merging of sports and entertainment that helped define what fans now experience. Advertisement In 1979, shortly after purchasing the Lakers, Buss commissioned the first Laker Girls dance team. The Forum Club became one of the city's hottest nightspots. The games were more than athletic contests. They were events. For the first 12 seasons Buss owned the team, they never won fewer than 54 games in an 82-game season. Titles came in 1982, 1985 and 1987 against the hated Celtics and in 1988 against Detroit. The Lakers built one of basketball's most unstoppable machines — Jerry West in the front office, Pat Riley on the sideline and Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Byron Scott and Michael Cooper flying on the break. As Buss became one of the NBA's most powerful figures, his children were at his side, learning the business. His daughter, Jeanie, famously helped organize events at the Forum. The family's true promoter spirit couldn't be suppressed — soccer, indoor tennis, roller hockey, the Buss family tried it all. Advertisement Read more: Q&A: Dave Roberts says Mark Walter will help make Lakers a perennial title contender Even after Johnson's stunning retirement after his HIV diagnosis, the Lakers missed the playoffs just once before they fully reloaded, first with Shaquille O'Neal, then with Kobe Bryant and finally with Phil Jackson. Nothing, though, would last forever. The transition In 2005, The Times' Hall of Fame basketball writer, Mark Heisler, wrote about Buss' succession plan coming into focus. 'Jerry Buss wanted a crowd-pleasing basketball team the movie stars could relate to but might have gone too far,' Heisler wrote. 'He wound up with the greatest floating soap opera in sports, and basketball was almost beside the point.' Advertisement Still, it was Buss' legacy. 'I just can't visualize myself walking away, relinquishing control,' Buss said in a 2002 story in The Times. 'My relationship with this team is a lifelong marriage.' The thing about family businesses, it turns out, is that family drama is always at play. A Sports Illustrated feature in 1998 painted a story of jealousy and unease that seemed prophetic. Kobe Bryant, left, holds the Larry O'Brian Trophy as Shaquille O'Neal holds the NBA Finals MVP trophy in 2000. (AFP / Getty Images) As Buss scaled back his involvement, Jeanie took on a greater role in the business side of the franchise while son Jim became a basketball executive. And the Lakers kept on winning. Tensions between O'Neal, Bryant and Jackson ended with the dissolution of another dynasty after three consecutive championships. Belief in Bryant led to two more rings once they reunited him with Jackson and added Pau Gasol to the mix. Advertisement Through it all, the Lakers remained a family business in its truest sense, Buss' youngest sons Joey and Jesse learning the ropes in business and scouting in the same way his older children did. Jeanie's romantic relationship with Jackson, at best, complicated things in the organization. Still, she was always the one her father intended to lead the organization, beginning when Buss put her in charge of the team's indoor tennis franchise when she was just 19. 'I figured, 'If Dr. Buss [she refers to him by his preferred title] says he thinks I can do it, I must be able to do it,'' Jeanie told The Times in 2002.' If he never doubted me, how could anyone else? It was only later that I thought, 'What the hell was I doing?'" In 2005, son Jim began to take on a bigger role in the organization, becoming the team's vice president of player personnel. Advertisement '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,'' Jim said then. When Buss died in 2013 from complications of cancer, all six of his children held titles with the Lakers. Read more: Lakers will be looking for bargain deals when offseason gets here 'Jerry Buss helped set the league on the course it is on today,' then-NBA commissioner David Stern said. 'Remember, he showed us it was about 'Showtime,' the notion that an arena can become the focal point for not just basketball, but entertainment. He made it the place to see and be seen.' Advertisement While Buss was living, the Lakers missed the playoffs only twice. In the six seasons after his death, the Lakers never won more than 37 games. Something had to change. The fallout Bryant took a fateful step at the end of a game late in the 2013 season, his Achilles tendon rupturing in his left leg. He miraculously made two free throws before heading to the locker room — a moment codifying him as an all-time Los Angeles legend and a moment, it turned out, that signaled the good times were about to end. The following season, coach Mike D'Antoni's Lakers won just 27 games, Nick Young leading the Lakers in scoring and Bryant playing only six times. After the year, Jim Buss told The Times that he saw a pathway forward and he told his family the same in a meeting earlier in 2014. Advertisement 'I was laying myself on the line by saying, 'If this doesn't work in three to four years, if we're not back on the top' — and the definition of top means contending for the Western Conference, contending for a championship — 'then I will step down because that means I have failed,'" he said. "I don't know if you can fire yourself if you own the team … but what I would say is I'd walk away and you guys figure out who's going to run basketball operations because I obviously couldn't do the job. "There's no question in my mind we will accomplish success. I'm not worried about putting myself on the line." In 2015, the Lakers won only 21 games. In 2016, the team lost a franchise-most 65 times against a franchise-worst 17 wins. In 2017, they were headed to another season in which they would be more than 30 games under .500 when Jeanie fired Jim and Kupchak, the team's general manager. They were replaced with Bryant's former agent, Rob Pelinka, and Johnson. Jeanie Buss applauds the Lakers' efforts during the team's 2010 NBA championship ring ceremony at Staples Center. (Chris Carlson / Associated Press) Shortly after the decision, Jim, along with his brother Johnny, tried to remove Jeanie from the team's board of directors, sparking a legal feud that included Jeanie filing a restraining order while she wrested control of the team. Advertisement 'I must also point out that Jim has already proven to be completely unfit even in an executive vice president of basketball operations role and I recently had to replace him,' Jeanie said in court documents. The Lakers signed LeBron James in 2018, traded for Anthony Davis and built a title team in 2020, the family's biggest success in the years following their father's passing. With Jeanie firmly in charge, brother Joey helped run one of the league's most-respected developmental teams in the South Bay Lakers — a program that helped develop players such as Alex Caruso. Jesse Buss and his scouting department found value in late first-round picks like Josh Hart and Kyle Kuzma as well as an undrafted star in Austin Reaves. In 2022, Jeanie produced a documentary for Hulu that dealt with heaps of the family's drama, and Wednesday's sale not coming from a majority — and not unanimous — vote again means that not everyone is on the same page. Advertisement While the Buss family will retain minority ownership, things will never be the same in the organization. The influx of money, of modernization, of more corporate structure could help the Lakers on the court. But what they were under the Buss family, they'll never be again. 'I really tried to create a Laker image, a distinct identity,' Jerry Buss once said. 'I think we've been successful. I mean, the Lakers are pretty damn Hollywood.' And on that era, the credits have begun to roll. Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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a day ago
- Sport
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Magic explains why winning a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics means more than NBA or NCAA titles: "I finally got the chance to play with Michael and Larry"
Magic explains why winning a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics means more than NBA or NCAA titles: "I finally got the chance to play with Michael and Larry" originally appeared on Basketball Network. When it comes to winning, Magic Johnson's resume is a masterclass in greatness. Five-time NBA champion, three-time league MVP, NCAA title at Michigan State, Olympic gold medalist, and the face of the Los Angeles Lakers Showtime dynasty that shaped the 1980s basketball. Advertisement Johnson's trophy cabinet is practically a museum packed with accolades that define what it means to be one of the all-time greats. But for all the rings, hardware, and moments, there's one title that still stands above the rest in Magic's heart. And no, it's not the '80 showdown with the Philadelphia 76ers in which he pulled a 42-point and 15-rebound stat line to close out the series in Game 6. It's not his epic rivalry with the Boston Celtics all through the decade. It's not even the 1987 Finals when he hit the "junior sky hook" in Boston Garden. The one that meant the most came in 1992 — when he finally got to share the floor with his rivals instead of against them. "I think the Gold medal, because of this…" said Johnson, while quickly continuing to explain, "I finally got the chance to play with Michael and Larry." Magic crossed off the final thing on his basketball bucket list By the time the 1992 Olympics rolled around, Magic had already announced his retirement from the NBA due to his HIV diagnosis. But when the call came to be part of Team USA's first-ever roster made up of professional players, he didn't hesitate. Advertisement That team wasn't just great — it was mythical, stacked with legends like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, and John Stockton, all anchored by Magic Man at point guard, orchestrating the game as the floor general of a squad that is still considered the best assembly of hoopers ever to walk on the hardwood. "On my bucket list, I've always wanted to just throw a pass to both of those guys. Like a no-look pass, lick coming down the middle. I'm coming down and there is Larry in the corner, just no-look him really fast and let him shoot that beautiful jump shot. And then Larry talks trash, I love that, he talks trash…. And then Michael coming down the middle with the tongue out, Nothing like it," the Hall of Famer added. It was pure basketball joy. Truth be told, the games weren't even competitive — the Dream Team beat opponents by an average of 44 points. But it didn't matter because the magic wasn't in the score. It was in the connection between legends who once went to war against each other, now sharing the same uniform and writing history that is still talked about to this day. Related: "I don't think I should defend myself anymore, I'm done with that in my life" - Allen Iverson on why he's had enough trying to defend his public image Brothers before rivals In a sport built on competition, Magic and Larry were the fiercest of rivals. Their battles began in the 1979 NCAA championship game and spilled over into nearly a decade of NBA Finals drama. And yet, underneath the competition was something deeper: mutual respect that defined their relationship. Advertisement It's the kind of thing that only happens once every four years — if that. Three all-time legends wearing the same jersey, fully bought in, sharing the ball, and soaking in the moment. But in Barcelona, that's exactly what unfolded. They were rivals, yes — but in that summer, they became brothers in basketball. And for Magic, no ring, no MVP, and no banner could match that feeling. Related: "Yeah, they'll probably have to do something" - Bird says the NBA will be forced to move the 3-point line back if high volume continues This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 16, 2025, where it first appeared.
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2 days ago
- Sport
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Pascal Siakam Reveals Honest Thoughts on NBA Journey Amid Finals
Pascal Siakam Reveals Honest Thoughts on NBA Journey Amid Finals originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Indiana Pacers are preparing for Game 3 of the NBA finals on Wednesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Advertisement Leading up to their first finals appearance since 1999-2000, Indiana defeated the Milwaukee Bucks (4-1), Cleveland Cavaliers (4-1) and New York Knicks (4-2) in the prior rounds. Forward Pascal Siakam has been at the helm of their recent success. The 31-year-old averaged 24.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals within 36.0 minutes of playing time in six games against the Knicks en route to receiving the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP trophy. However, before he landed in Indiana, Siakam helped the Toronto Raptors defeat the Golden State Warriors 4-2 in the 2018-19 NBA finals. In that same season, he also won the Most Improved Player of the Year award and looked back at it during Tuesday's practice. 'It was great and just elite opportunities,' Siakam told this season's Most Improved Player of the Year Dyson Daniels in an interview. 'We had a different coach, and we're [in] a different system, and [the] coach trusted me to be myself.' During that season, the former Raptor took a huge step in his career's trajectory by averaging 16.9 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. In the finals against Golden State, he averaged 19.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Advertisement 'I just went out there and was feeling confident to compete and show my skills,' Siakam added. 'And again, it's opportunities, and you have to be ready to work hard, and when your opportunity comes, take it.' Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) dribbles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Alex Caruso (9)© Kyle Terada-Imagn Images Daniels also had a career year in terms of production as a member of the Atlanta Hawks. He averaged 14.1 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a starting guard and leads the league with 3.0 steals per game. Game 3 of the NBA finals between the Pacers and Thunder airs on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Related: New Video of Pascal Siakam Emerges Before Game 2 of NBA Finals This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
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2 days ago
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NBA Suffers Major Blow Amid Thunder-Pacers Finals
NBA Suffers Major Blow Amid Thunder-Pacers Finals originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Oklahoma City Thunder hold a 3-2 lead over the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals heading into Game 6 on Thursday in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Advertisement The series has been intense at times because both teams traded victories throughout the first four games. However, the Thunder took control of the pace in Game 5 to cruise to a comfortable 120-109 win. However, the solid play hasn't resulted in excellent TV ratings. According to television analyst and writer Clay Travis, 'Fewer people are watching the NBA Finals through five games than have watched since before the [Larry Bird] and [Magic Johnson] entered the league.' The league has historically had solid ratings since the mid-to-late 1980s, when superstars such as Bird, Johnson and Michael Jordan were among the top players playing in the finals. Furthermore, ratings for Game 6 of the 1993 Finals between the Chicago Bulls and Phoenix Suns were 20.3, and in Game 7 of the 1988 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Detroit Pistons, ratings were as high as 21.2, according to However, the league did encounter a drop in ratings during the 2020 NBA Finals between the Lakers and Miami Heat because of the COVID-19 pandemic suspending the season until the late summer and early fall which forced the NBA to begin competing with the NFL for ratings. Advertisement 'The league's finals ratings, other than Covid year when they played in the fall and competed with the NFL, have never been lower in live air history,' Travis added. Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) brings the ball up court past Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2)© Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images However, despite Travis' findings, the ratings could change throughout the rest of the series. Game 6 of the NBA Finals between the Pacers and Thunder will air on ABC at 8:30 p.m. ET from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Related: Pascal Siakam Reveals Honest Thoughts on NBA Journey Amid Finals This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
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3 days ago
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"Because Larry said that, I believed that" - Larry Bird saying Shaquille O'Neal would be the GOAT center gave the Shaq confidence he needed
"Because Larry said that, I believed that" - Larry Bird saying Shaquille O'Neal would be the GOAT center gave the Shaq confidence he needed originally appeared on Basketball Network. Shaquille O'Neal used to make headlines during his college years at Louisiana State as a young and freakishly strong and talented big man — something that even Larry Bird noticed. In his sophomore year, Shaq averaged 27.6 points, 14.7 rebounds and 5.0 blocks per game. Advertisement Unsurprisingly, O'Neal concluded his college career in 1992 with flying colors. He was a two-time consensus First Team All-American and a two-time SEC Player of the Year. At the time, Bird, who was in the twilight of his NBA career, recognized the potential of young Shaq. Bird firmly believed that O'Neal was about to take over the NBA and would end up becoming the greatest center of all time. Reflecting on what Larry Legend said about him, O'Neal admitted that he has lived by that lofty praise since then. "My only Larry Bird story… [By the way], Thank you, Larry Bird," Shaq said on Inside the NBA on TNT on Bird's 61st birthday. "Larry Bird helped me realize that I was a pretty good player. It was one of those special occasions where there was a college game before an NBA game, so after we played, I went back to the dorm and I was watching TV. At halftime, Larry Bird said, 'Let me tell you something, that Shaquille O'Neal fella, if he comes out, he's gonna be the best big man ever.' And because Larry said that, I believed that," O'Neal remembered. Bird also predicted the Lakers' reign with Shaq As expected, O'Neal finally made his way to the NBA. He was drafted by the Orlando Magic as the No. 1 overall pick in 1992 and immediately changed the landscape of the league with his otherworldly athleticism and power. Advertisement Shaq and Bird met in the 2000 Finals. At the time, Bird was coaching the Indiana Pacers, while O'Neal was the face of the Los Angeles Lakers. That year, Shaq won the season MVP award and went on to lead the Lakers to an emphatic championship win over coach Bird and the Pacers in six games. Once again, Bird acknowledged Shaq's dominance and even predicted that the Lakers would continue to dominate the league because of him. "It is, with Shaquille O'Neal," Bird said in 2000, per the Los Angeles Times. "He's the most dominating player in our league. He's powerful, strong, able to get the ball to the hole. He's just so dominating; they have an opportunity here to do something great for a number of years." Related: "I don't think I should defend myself anymore, I'm done with that in my life" - Allen Iverson on why he's had enough trying to defend his public image Shaq has always respected Bird's legacy Unlike many of his contemporaries, O'Neal was never a fan of Bird. In fact, he openly admitted that he once harbored a strong disdain for the Celtics icon, believing that much of Bird's success was just the result of luck rather than skill. Advertisement Despite his critical perception of Bird, O'Neal could not deny the significance of Bird's contributions to the NBA as an organization. He ultimately recognized Bird's legacy as one of the greatest players of all time. Moreover, Shaq also acknowledged the impact Bird had on the game and the admiration he garnered from fans and players alike over the years. Ultimately, it's also safe to say that Bird's remarks may have also changed how O'Neal viewed him. Related: "You guys created this" - Shaq credited media for motivating him to get serious and start winning championships This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jun 17, 2025, where it first appeared.
