LOS ANGELES — A who’s-who of Lakers and NBA legends showed up Thursday to celebrate
the life of Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, who died Monday after an 18-month
cancer ordeal.
Many former Lakers showed up at the Nokia Theatre across the
street from Staples Center in downtown LA to pay tribute to Buss, who was 80
years old.
Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O’Neal, Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, Pat Riley, Bill Sharman, Byron Scott, Mychal Thompson, Cedric
Ceballos and Magic Johnson were some of the former Lakers in attendance. They
were joined by the entire current Lakers team, led by captains Kobe Bryant and
Pau Gasol, both of whom spoke at the memorial — Gasol in Spanish. NBA
commissioner David Stern, Phil Jackson and Bill Walton also were at the
service.
“This is a celebration of life and a celebration of
success,” Magic told an audience of approximately 4,000. Magic said he
considered Buss to be “a second father to me from the time I came here from
Michigan.
“He was a great man and a great father,” Magic added. “He
also left an unbelievable legacy of 10 championships for the city of Los
Angeles in 30-plus years of excellence.”
Stern credited Buss for turning around the financially
struggling NBA when he joined the league and presented his novel approach to
marketing the game.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that Jerry Buss was a
transformational force in the history of sports,” the commissioner said.
“Creating the value proposition through (ticket) pricing, TV rights, naming
rights and entertainment, which underlie all arena and stadium construction
around the world.”
Buss — a chemistry professor at USC who along with partner
Frank Mariani parlayed a $1,000 real estate investment into hundreds of
millions of dollars — bought the Lakers as part of a package from Jack Kent
Cooke in 1979 for a then-sports transaction record of $67.5 million. Cooke had
to sell the Lakers, Kings, The Forum and a large ranch in order to finance a
settlement after divorcing his wife Barbara. (The$ 49 million he paid her also was
a world record at the time).
Buss later sold the Kings, The Forum and the RalJon ranch,
but even through some tough financial times early in his Lakers tenure, he
would never give up controlling interest in the team that he loved.
He treated the players not as employees, but as family
members, offering them financial advice, and counseling about their personal
lives if they requested it.
“He was like a second dad to all of us (Lakers),” Magic said.
The team repaid that love by reaching the Finals 16 times
and winning 10 NBA titles in 33 years, helping Buss build an empire worth over
a billion dollars at the time of his death.
The basketball operations will continue to be run by his
son, VP of player personnel Jim Buss and current Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, while
daughter Jeanie will still handle the financial side of the team as VP of business.
Jeanie has also been designated as governor representing the Lakers at all
league meetings.
Buss’ six children were at the memorial, with Johnny, Janie,
Jessie and Joey joining Jim and Jeanie. Johnny was the only one who spoke,
however, talking about what a fantastic job his father did raising his clan. He
also lightened the mood a bit when he referred to his dad hanging on to make it
to Valentine’s Day, “a day that meant a lot to him,” Johnny Buss said with a
smile, referring to his father’s well-known practice of always having a
beautiful, young woman — or two — on his arm.
The other children chose to write short passages in the
program that was passed out at the memorial. Jim saluted his father for never
backing down or failing to take a reasonable risk.
“You did it your way,” Jim wrote, “and I’m so proud of you.”
Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” was the song chosen to end the proceedings.
The 2012-13 Lakers began the tribute to Buss with a win Wednesday
night over the team Buss loved to beat more than any other — the Boston
Celtics. Afterwards, Dwight Howard said the team needed to fight back from all
the season-long adversity to make the playoffs and “get it done for Dr. Buss.”
Nothing would have made the good doctor happier.
