Jeanie Buss is Still Here
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On a Tuesday afternoon, approximately 54 days until the start of the NBA season, Jeanie Buss is found—where else?—at work. Her office. Big, but nothing special. No trophies in sight, Larry O'Brien or otherwise, at least through the POV of a Zoom square. Well, how is she?
"Pretty good, pretty good," she says. "There's some players here working out today, so that always lightens my mood."
Who's practicing?
"Well, our draft pick, Max Christie."
C'mon. Who else?
"Well, LeBron was here earlier. And AD. So they look pretty good. You can hear a little bit of the music and the bouncing basketballs in the background, so hopefully that's not a distraction."
It ever get old? The greatest players in the world, playing music and bouncing basketballs?
"Never, ever, ever."
Where to start with Jeanie Buss, firmly in sports' echelon of needs-no-introduction? Buss is the controlling owner and president of a little team called the Los Angeles Lakers, a real-life Iron Throne you can only truly claim by being the smartest person in the room since the Bee Gees topped the charts. And she's had a hell of a couple years. Practically moments into 2020, Buss lost Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna. And at the end of that no-good, strange, horrible year, James won the Lakers a championship from fucking Disney World. Should we talk about the time, two years later, when Adam McKay made a show about her family, with the guy from Step Brothers playing her very famous dad? Probably not, because she'd rather you watch Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers, currently airing on Hulu, produced by Buss herself. So would Magic, Kareem, Shaq, and all the other guys you know by one name.
Smiling, tearing up, telling the kinds of stories you can only tell when you've orbited greatness—and then, greatness orbited you—Buss is still here, in her office, 54 days until the start of another NBA season.
ESQUIRE: What's the best concert you ever saw at the Forum?
Jeanie Buss: The funniest story is when the artist formerly known as Prince was scheduled to perform. Right about the time we opened doors to let the fans in, we got word he was not going to perform that night. There was a lot of panic. We got all these fans already here—they're going to riot. So we went out with our staff to make the announcement. The reason he wasn't going to perform was because he just wasn't feeling it. That was what we were supposed to say: he wasn't feeling it.
And the fans were like, "Oh, he's not feeling it? Oh, OK! That's fine. We'll come back another time." Nobody was mad about that. Prince fans understood that's how he is. If he's not feeling it, he's not feeling, so you don't force it. It was a learning lesson for me how much fans really care about the people they're fans of.
One beautiful thing about the documentary is how fondly you speak of your father. Did you learn anything new about him in the process of making the series?
There was just something really special about him. And I always said to him, "What can I do to make your life easier today?" And then he'd say, "OK, well, do this. Do this." And he was kind of like a pied piper in that he was just great to be around. Wherever he was, the party went. So I was just in the right place at the right time. I had this great opportunity to go on the ride.
It must last for only 10 seconds, but there’s a great clip of you two watching a basketball game, cheering together.
I mean, sports were part of our lives growing up. USC football, horse racing, or Dodgers baseball. The idea that he would ever end up owning a team—it was never even part of the conversation. But we always got together because of sports, which is what is so endearing to me about Laker fans, how we can bring generations together. I love getting the letter from the grandmother who says it's the only thing that brings her and her 13-year-old grandson together. Laker games. And it's what brought my family together.
Obviously, Legacy runs through Magic, Kareem, and all the Hall of Famers. But is there a Laker you feel like isn't talked about enough?
I have to go backward and think about Vlade Divac. We're so used to Europeans now being a part of the NBA. He was a big risk for the Lakers to take, but that's who we were able to get. He should have been drafted higher, but nobody knew if he had to serve in the military for his country, or if he would be allowed to come and play. And he just fit. After Kareem Abdul-Jabbar retires, how do you ever replace him? Then the least likely person you think could fill his shoes comes and he's fearless about replacing Kareem.
But in order for us to get Kobe Bryant, we had to trade him. So that's the part I think I enjoy the most in our docuseries, is listening to players talk about what it was like to be traded away from the Lakers. Or traded to the Lakers. When the Lakers traded Shaquille O'Neal to Miami, Lamar Odom was part of that trade. The pressure on him to have to replace Shaq? We struggled those first couple years. It's a lot to come to the Lakers. Are you really ever prepared for what it brings?
At one point, you talk about meeting Phil Jackson. It’s this beautiful story of you falling for him, and you say, "I wanted to live my life in truth." What does it mean to live truthfully?
To be honest with yourself, I think, is the hardest thing. Being able to look in the mirror and be proud of the choices you make—and be willing to live with the choices you've made. To forgive yourself, because you always have the chance to make the next right decision. And that was kind of what drew Phil to me because there’s a big age difference between us. He'd been married twice before. It was really just the right time and the most important relationship of my life.
Well, what comes across through the documentary, is that you really did live that way. You followed your heart while rising in your career.
I think there's gamesmanship that doesn't betray the truth. Because I would say that Phil is a really good example of somebody who could play poker and make a move to be a means to an end—but kind of through camouflage. Is that lying? No, I don't think so. I think as long as you can say, I'm not manipulating things for a negative or to damage a person. If it's about winning a game? Gamesmanship is OK to get that next job, that next interview or whatever. I think you can still stay truthful to yourself and have a little bit of game.
Do you feel like this documentary sets the record straight in a post-Winning Time world?
It takes your breath away when somebody else can tell your story. I thought those kinds of things were protected. As I've learned, we're public domain, as long as the story is told accurately. There were a lot of things that were not accurate in Winning Time. But as long as there wasn't intent to defame anybody… I guess that's the hardest thing to prove. So that's the legal lesson of the day. But I'm not telling people not to watch it. I watched it because you know what? I missed my dad. I think John C. Reilly captured a lot of my dad in his performance. And my dad was a fan of John C. Reilly.
So what Legacy is about is telling our story, our way, through the people who lived it. Giving Magic and Kareem [the chance]. My dad's not here to tell his story, but we can fill in through old interviews and footage that people haven't seen. [We can speak to] to a new generation that have heard my dad's name, but don't really know anything about him.
On a totally separate note—how close was Coach K to actually coaching the Lakers in 2004?
After Phil left, after Shaq got traded, Kobe always wanted to play for Coach K. If he'd gone to college, he would've gone to Duke and played for Coach K. So, to make a jump from the college game is difficult, because you're recruiting players and they've committed to your program. Now, for you to bounce, you're kind of turning your back on a program, on an athlete that put his future in your hand. So I think he was very tempted to come, but it was just not the right time for him to make the move. And we would have loved to have him.
In later episodes, you open up about a time when you were groped, which a lot of your family didn't even know about. Why was it important for you to tell that story here?
Because in that situation, I wasn't physically threatened. I didn't think I was in danger of assault. It was a moment to degrade me and to belittle me—and make me feel like I didn't belong. That's why I wanted to share the story. I wanted other people who have been through situations similar to that to recognize that it's about power and about someone else putting you down, not because you don't deserve to be there.
Around that same time in the documentary, I was struck by the sheer amount of tragedy that struck the Lakers, too—from Magic to Kobe. What did you learn in those moments about having to lead the organization while you’re still grieving?
I mean, it's still devastating. Today is Kobe's birthday. And the loss of Kobe and Gianna, I was like, How am I going to get out of bed? How am I going to move forward? Our first game back after the tragedy, LeBron James stood on center court and addressed the audience. He said, "What we're going to do is we're going to all come together and grieve together. And we're going to get through this." He said, "I have broad shoulders. Lean on me." I guess that's when I learned how much—yeah, basketball's a game—but how a community can come together in times of grief and comfort one another. I mean, we can't fix everything, but we can remember that we're part of something bigger. We'll carry Kobe and Gianna's memory forever.
Thank you for that. I want end on a happier note. There are so many beautiful photos of you and your family in this documentary—do you have a favorite picture of you and your dad?
One of his happiest moments was getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He told me, "Jeanie, here's what I want. I don't want a high school named after me. I don't want a freeway. What I really want is a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I want to go into the Basketball Hall of Fame. And I want to go into the Guinness Book of World Records." So, the toughest one was getting the star. To get a star, you have to be a star of a medium, meaning you have to be a recording artist, movie star, TV star, or radio star. Trying to campaign for that? It took me a couple years.
But then I realized: he started the very first regional sports network. So they were like, "OK, we got it." They said it was one of the best star ceremonies, because we had the Laker Girls, we had the players, we had everybody. And it was such a celebration. He was so proud because he wasn't born in L.A., but L.A. was his home. He wanted something that was lasting. That was just a really special day.
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