Goodbye to a front office legend

While few sports fans are truly interested in sports ownership (until lockouts or dumb trades are made), there are a few who seem to captivate audiences. This week, one of those owners sadly succumbed to his battle with cancer. At the age of 80, beloved Laker owner Jerry Buss died on the evening of February 18.

To his pedigree, the Lakers won 10 of their 16 NBA Championship under his ownership. He was the face behind one of the most successful franchises in history, and did what he loved until the day he died.

In a 2010 interview, Buss was quoted saying, “My dream really was to have the Lakers and Los Angeles identified as one and the same. When you think of New York, you think of the Yankees. I wanted that to be the case here as well.” Before the past season’s Clipper-coup, for decades this was the case.

Buss became the majority owner of the Lakers in 1979, heading right into the show time era of the 1980s. He was best known for doing what it took to win. This included spending all the money necessary to get the right players (Lakers are the NY Yankees of basketball), as well as being able to part ways with players or coaches if it meant another championship win.

Even after the duo had won two titles together, Buss found it fitting to part ways with Shaq to let Kobe take on a larger role with the team. Though it took some years, this turned into back-to-back championships for the Lakers and the Black Mamba. Buss is also known for choosing Magic Johnson over Kareem Abdul-Jabar, and swiftly giving the ax to head coaches Paul Westhead and Del Harris.

Whether you love or hate the Lakers, the fact is, Jerry Buss turned them into a multimillion dollar corporation, and a force to be reckoned with. It almost seems like poetic justice that his death comes during such a mercurial season for the Lakers, even after he orchestrated one of the largest off-season heists in NBA history.

Photo courtesy of USA Today