Jerry Buss Was a Visionary
Whether it was Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar leading Showtime fast breaks in the 80s, a young Kobe Bryant feeding Shaquille O'Neal down low in the early 2000s or an older Bryant working gracefully with Pau Gasol in recent years, there has been only one man responsible for the immense accomplishments of the Los Angeles Lakers. His name was Jerry Buss, Ph.D., and his death on Monday was felt not only in NBA circles, but all across the American sports landscape.
Over the past 30 years, the Lakers have become synonymous with the city in which they play - glitz, glamour, stars and success.
Buss was widely considered one of the greatest team owners in sports history. The Lakers made the NBA Finals 16 times and won 10 of them during his 33 years in charge, and Buss bought the team for an estimated $16 million in 1979 and the Lakers are now worth over $1 billion, according to Forbes Magazine.
"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 in a statement on Monday. "More importantly, we have lost a dear and valued friend."
After growing up amid poverty in Wyoming, Buss earned a earned a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Southern California.
After a successful real estate venture that was originally intended to help him pay for teaching chemistry, Buss turned toward sports and never looked back. He would live the Hollywood dream for the rest of his life, participating in high-stakes poker tournaments, flaunting young models on his arm whenever he was out in public and frequenting L.A. clubs well into his 70s - all the while spearheading a culture of success and stardom that has now come to be associated with the Lakers.
For the past 18 months, though, Buss' health had been declining. His luxury box at the Staples Center had remained empty for the past two seasons and he had been slowly handing over the keys to his inexperienced son.
It's no coincidence that the Lakers' fortunes have mirrored the well-being of their storied owner. After reaching the finals from 2008-2010, the team did not make it past the second round of the playoffs the last two seasons and this year's star-studded cast is in danger of missing the playoffs for only the third time since Buss bought the team.
This downward trajectory has shown that winning goes beyond just talented players. Owners like Buss don't come around very often, and as sports journalist Bill Simmons so accurately put it in his recent piece about this influential man, "Sometimes you don't know what you have until it's gone."
Nick Ostiller is a junior communication major.