Jerry Buss
Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss (January 27, 1933 – February 18, 2013) was an American businessman, investor, chemist, and philanthropist. He was the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), winning 10 league championships that were highlighted by the team's Showtime era during the 1980s. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. Buss owned other professional sports franchises in Southern California.
Jerry Buss
February 18, 2013 (aged 80)
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California
- Businessman
- investor
- chemist
- poker player
- philanthropist
Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Sparks
Veronica Hoff (1972–1980)
Karen Demel
- 10× NBA champion (as owner) 1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010 with Lakers
- 2× WNBA champion (as owner) 2001, 2002 with Sparks
- Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF (Class of 2010)
Poker player[edit]
Buss was a high-stakes cash game poker player for many years, but later in life was more active in tournament games. His best finishes included third in the 1991 World Series of Poker seven-card stud event and second place in the 2003 World Poker Tour Freeroll invitational. He also appeared in the GSN series High Stakes Poker and the NBC late-night series Poker After Dark.[15]
Philanthropy[edit]
In January 2008, Buss donated $7.5 million to USC's Department of Chemistry to fund two endowed chairs and an endowed scholarship fund for chemistry graduate students; the two chairs were to be named after his mentors at USC, Professors Sidney Benson and David Dows. Buss was an inaugural member of the USC College Board of Councilors.[5]
His philanthropy also extended to people associated with the Lakers. When former Lakers player Walt Hazzard, then an adviser to the team, suffered a catastrophic stroke in 1996, Buss kept Hazzard on the payroll and told Hazzard's son that his father would remain a Lakers employee for as long as Buss owned the team. When Hazzard died in 2011, he was still a Lakers employee.[2]
Personal life[edit]
Buss has seven known children. His marriage to the former JoAnn Mueller ended in divorce in 1972 after having five children: Lee (b. 1953[16]), Johnny (b.1956), Jim (b. 1959), Jeanie (b. 1961) and Janie (b. 1963).[4][17][18] Their oldest child, Lee, was put up for adoption shortly after birth.[18] Buss allegedly married his second wife, Veronica Hoff,[19] in 1972 while still married to his first wife, JoAnn. During his time as Lakers owner, Buss was widely known as a playboy and had a string of young girlfriends.[20] Buss dated Debbie Zafrani, a Playboy bunny and the younger sister of the wife of Lakers player Kurt Rambis.
Buss had two more children with a girlfriend, Karen Demel: Joey (b. 1985) and Jesse (b. 1988). At the time of his death in 2013, six out of seven of his children worked in the Lakers organization.[2]
In 1990, Buss reached a settlement out of court in a palimony suit filed by Puppi Buss, who said that she had an on-and-off relationship with Buss for 15 years, and also alleged that he fathered her son;[21][22] details of the settlement were not revealed.[21]
On May 29, 2007, Buss was issued a citation for driving under the influence after two California Highway Patrol officers saw him driving his gold Mercedes-Benz on the wrong side of the road in the coastal community of Carlsbad in northern San Diego County, with a 23-year-old woman passenger. After failing a field sobriety test, Buss was taken into custody, given a blood test, and booked on suspicion of driving while intoxicated with a blood-alcohol level over 0.08.[23]
Death[edit]
In 2012, Buss was in a hospital for months with an undisclosed intestinal problem.[24] Through his 80th birthday on January 27, 2013, he had not attended a Lakers game during the 2012–13 season due to health concerns.[25] On February 14, 2013, four days before his death, it was revealed that Buss had been battling cancer since 2012.[26]
After being hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with an undisclosed form of cancer, he died of kidney failure on February 18, 2013, aged 80.[27][28] On February 21, hundreds of friends, colleagues, and family members gathered to pay tribute to Buss in a televised memorial service at the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live, across from the Lakers' home court, Staples Center.[29] Buss was buried on February 22 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills in a private ceremony with family and close friends.[30]
NBA commissioner David Stern said of Buss "The NBA has lost a visionary owner whose influence on our league is incalculable and will be felt for decades to come".[31] Lakers guard Kobe Bryant said "His impact is felt worldwide," and called Buss “the greatest owner in sports ever.”[32]
Buss's 66% controlling ownership of the Lakers passed to his six children via a trust, with each child receiving an equal vote (11% for each child).[33][34] His succession plan had daughter Jeanie assume his previous title as the Lakers' governor as well as its team representative at NBA Board of Governors meetings.[33][35]
The 2013 World Series of Poker paid tribute to Buss before the $2,500 Seven Card Stud event.[36][37]