He really was a doctor
Dr. Jerry Buss has died. He was 79. He may have been the most influential sports franchise owner of the second half of the 20th century. He turned a financially successful Los Angeles Lakers team into a team that not only made money, it won multiple championships. But he was so much more.
He wanted to be a teacher and after getting his undergrad degree in less than three years from the University of Wyoming, he moved on to USC. There he got a MS and then a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Because teachers were not well paid, he invested in real estate to try to generate more income, with the idea being that this extra money would enable him to continue teaching. But he was such a successful real estate investor he soon pursued it full-time.
His first foray into the professional sports ownership arena was in World Team Tennis. Even here he was a winner, with the Los Angeles Strings winning a championship in 1981. Two years earlier however, he rocked the sports world with his purchase of the Lakers, the Kings and the Forum in Inglewood, home arena for all three teams. The $67.5 million he paid for the teams, building and a ranch was the largest sports purchase in history up to that point. He sold the Kings, kept the Lakers and found a way to make more money, selling Great Western Savings the right to put their name on the Forum, which became the Great Western Forum.
Remember that number of $67.5 million because 34 years later, estimates place the value of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise at $1 billion. Mostly because of the efforts of this visionary sports owner. He was the one who had the final decision when it came time to choose between drafting Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. He made the right call for his team.
He created "Showtime", by taking the Lakers and making them "Hollywood". He followed the lead of the Dallas Cowboys and created a squad of "Laker Girls" to cheer the team on at home games. He built a roster that played a brand of up-tempo, fun to watch basketball. And his teams won. Five NBA championships during the Showtime era. Five more since then.
In 2010 he was rightly rewarded with enshrinement in the NBA Hall of Fame for his accomplishments and contributions to the game. He was a philanthropist, endowing a scholarship fund for grad students in chemistry at his alma mater, USC. He was an excellent poker player, making final tables at the World Series of Poker and on the World Poker Tour.
He was a giant in the field of sports ownership and he will be sorely missed. Now his children run the team he so loved, and hopefully they will do as well as he did. RIP Doctor Buss. The sports world and the world in general is a poorer place today with your absence.
He wanted to be a teacher and after getting his undergrad degree in less than three years from the University of Wyoming, he moved on to USC. There he got a MS and then a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Because teachers were not well paid, he invested in real estate to try to generate more income, with the idea being that this extra money would enable him to continue teaching. But he was such a successful real estate investor he soon pursued it full-time.
His first foray into the professional sports ownership arena was in World Team Tennis. Even here he was a winner, with the Los Angeles Strings winning a championship in 1981. Two years earlier however, he rocked the sports world with his purchase of the Lakers, the Kings and the Forum in Inglewood, home arena for all three teams. The $67.5 million he paid for the teams, building and a ranch was the largest sports purchase in history up to that point. He sold the Kings, kept the Lakers and found a way to make more money, selling Great Western Savings the right to put their name on the Forum, which became the Great Western Forum.
Remember that number of $67.5 million because 34 years later, estimates place the value of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise at $1 billion. Mostly because of the efforts of this visionary sports owner. He was the one who had the final decision when it came time to choose between drafting Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. He made the right call for his team.
He created "Showtime", by taking the Lakers and making them "Hollywood". He followed the lead of the Dallas Cowboys and created a squad of "Laker Girls" to cheer the team on at home games. He built a roster that played a brand of up-tempo, fun to watch basketball. And his teams won. Five NBA championships during the Showtime era. Five more since then.
In 2010 he was rightly rewarded with enshrinement in the NBA Hall of Fame for his accomplishments and contributions to the game. He was a philanthropist, endowing a scholarship fund for grad students in chemistry at his alma mater, USC. He was an excellent poker player, making final tables at the World Series of Poker and on the World Poker Tour.
He was a giant in the field of sports ownership and he will be sorely missed. Now his children run the team he so loved, and hopefully they will do as well as he did. RIP Doctor Buss. The sports world and the world in general is a poorer place today with your absence.
posted by me at 10:59 AM
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