After an announcement made last week that Los Angeles Lakers' owner Dr. Jerry Buss was in the hospital dealing with cancer, Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times is now reporting that one of the well-known owners of one of the most historic franchises in pro sports has died.
Jerry Hatten Buss was born Jan. 27, 1933, in Salt Lake City. His parents divorced when he was an infant.
He earned a science scholarship to the University of Wyoming. At 19 he married a coed named JoAnn Mueller, and they would eventually have four children: John, Jim, Jeanie and Janie.
By the mid-1950s, the couple had moved to Southern California, where Buss earned a doctorate in chemistry at USC. He worked briefly in the aerospace industry, and in the late 1950s, he and a colleague, Frank Mariani, tried their hand at real estate.
Buss, 79, was a self-made millionaire who built his fortune in real estate, and purchased the Lakers in 1979. He charted his successful course with marquee players Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal, Hall of Fame coaches Pat Riley and Phil Jackson, celebrities sitting courtside and Laker Girls dancing during timeouts.
"I really tried to create a Laker image, a distinct identity," Buss said. "I mean, the Lakers are pretty damn Hollywood."
He will be remembered for his showmanship and his help in turning the game of basketball into "Showtime" and leading his franchise to 10 NBA championships through his reign as owner.
"Jerry Buss helped set the league on the course it is on today," 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."
He is survived by his six children.
