Jerry Buss’ remarkable life — which took him from Depression Era Wyoming to overseer of a billion-dollar empire and 10 NBA titles as owner of the Lakers — ended yesterday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He had been undergoing treatment for cancer, but the immediate cause of death was kidney failure. He was 80.
Buss, who was the longest-tenured owner in the NBA, having purchased the Lakers in 1979, instantly became synonymous with success, winning a championship in his first season with the team, and helped usher in the “Showtime” brand of basketball that made the Lakers a must-see attraction in a city of celebrities.
Encouraging an entertaining fast-break offense, with Magic Johnson at the helm, and the “Laker Girls” on the sidelines, Buss turned Inglewood into Hollywood, blending athletics and entertainment while turning a town draped in Dodger blue to purple and gold as the Lakers became one of the world’s most popular teams.
“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. “When you think New York, you think Yankees. I wanted that to be the case here as well. That when you think L.A., you think Lakers. I believe I’ve accomplished that.”
Buss purchased the Lakers, L.A. Kings and the Forum for a then-record $67.5 million, at the time considered a risky endeavor, and never slowed his spending with a payroll that annually ranked among the league’s highest. Buss’ passion for winning turned the Lakers, who had won one title following their move from Minneapolis in 1960 until they were bought by Buss, into the league’s winningest franchise with 16 NBA Finals appearances in 33 years and only two seasons without a playoff berth. Last month, Forbes magazine valued the Lakers at $1 billion, the only team besides the Knicks to crack that mark.
Buss, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2010, helped change the owners’ economic model, co-founding a basic-cable sports television network in 1985 and selling the naming rights to the Forum in 1988. Recently, Buss passed the day-to-day operation of the Lakers on to two of his six children, Jim and Jeanie.
“The NBA has lost a visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come,’’ NBA commissioner David Stern said. “More importantly, we have lost a dear and valued friend.”
Born on Jan. 27, 1933 in Salt Lake City, as Gerald Hatten Buss, he was raised in poverty in Kemmerer, Wyoming, eventually attending the University of Wyoming as an undergraduate before receiving a doctorate in physical chemistry from USC. He found his fortune in real estate, parlaying a $1,000 investment in a Los Angeles-area apartment building into millions. Even into his 70s, Buss personified a Hollywood chic, frequenting nightclubs with beautiful, younger women by his side and high-stakes poker games.
“Dr. Buss was just a fun-loving guy. He was very intelligent, he studied history, he could quote things. But the man was very competitive, as well,” Johnson said on ESPN yesterday. “He wanted to win championships. He brought all of us in to do that.”