A swirl of emotions permeated the air at the Lakers’ facility in El Segundo as the team reacted to the late owner Jerry Buss passing away at 5:55 a.m. Monday because of an unspecified form of cancer that affected his kidneys.
There was grief over Buss dying after frequently being hospitalized for the past 18 months.
There were fond memories on how Buss oversaw 10 of the Lakers’ 16 championships since purchasing the team in 1979.
Despite the wave of emotions, the Lakers provided tremendous clarity on how the Buss family and the six children who own the team view the organization’s future.
“The family has no interest in ever selling the team,” Lakers spokesman John Black said. “The six of them agreed unanimously to keep the team in the family for generations to come.”
Instead, the Lakers have set up a trust that will run by Jeanie, Jim and Johnny Buss.
Jeanie has been the team’s executive vice president of business operations for 14 seasons. Jim has spent eight of his 15 years with the organization as the Lakers’ executive vice president of player personnel. Johnny holds the title as the team’s executive vice president of strategic development.
Among those who have membership stakes in the Lakers are AEG Chairman Philip Anschutz (27 percent), Patrick Soon-Shiong (four percent) and Ed Roski (three percent). But Buss family spokesman Bob Steiner indicated the Lakers could only be sold through their two-thirds entirety.
“The entity cannot be split,” Steiner said. “The heirs do not own the team individually. It is a collective.”
Jeanie will become the team’s governor, meaning she will represent the Lakers’ vote during owners’ meetings. But Jim will have a larger influence on personnel decisions. Buss’ other children – Joey, Jesse and Janie Drexel – will also have an ownership stake.
“The future of the organization will remain unchanged,” Black said. “Dr. Buss set it up years in advance. He planned for continuation, for the team to remain within the family. That’s something that he did undertake.”
Still, the partnership has experienced conflicts. The most recent one happened this past November, when the Lakers hired Mike D’Antoni instead of Phil Jackson to replace the fired Mike Brown.
Jackson, who recently became engaged to Jeanie, believed the Lakers would rehire him after meeting with him at his Playa del Rey home.
After requesting two days to think over the decision, Jackson didn’t receive a job offer.
He was alerted at midnight the Lakers had hired D’Antoni, a decision that involved Jim, general manager Mitch Kupchak and the late Dr. Buss.
“They will work together,” Steiner said about the Buss siblings. “They are their father’s children. They understand the business and the sports elements.”
As his health declined in recent years, Jerry Buss ceded more and more control to his children.
Buss had not attended a Lakers game the past two seasons. Steiner said Buss last went to Staples Center when the Lakers lost Game 2 to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Western Conference semifinals.
Since then, Steiner said Buss often watched games with Jim, Jeanie, Joey and Jessie at his bedside.
“He was more and more giving responsibility to Jeanie and Jimmy in preparation for a complete passing of the torch, but major decisions were still his,” Steiner said. “They are their father’s children, and they knew and believed in the path that he had set and how he wanted things run, and they were very well-trained in that. Jerry would not have ceded responsibility unless he was confident.”
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