The Joe Pomp Show Inside the Lakers Sale: How Jerry Buss Built a $10 Billion Dynasty
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Jun 20, 2025 Discover how the Lakers soared to a $10 billion sale, spearheaded by new owner Mark Walter. Delve into Jerry Buss’s incredible journey from poverty to creating a sports empire. Uncover the groundbreaking negotiations that made this historic deal possible. Learn how Buss transformed the Lakers with the ‘Showtime’ era, pioneering a blend of basketball and entertainment that forever changed the NBA. This is a captivating look at legacy, ambition, and the art of sports ownership.
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Jerry Buss's Humble Beginnings
- Jerry Buss grew up in extreme poverty, scavenging and digging ditches before school.
- He used education to escape, eventually building a vast real estate empire from modest apartment purchases.
Jerry Buss's Complex Lakers Purchase
- Buss negotiated a unique $67.5 million deal involving swapping real estate assets and sports teams to buy the Lakers.
- This complex deal required 50 lawyers and nearly bankrupted Buss, who borrowed $1 million from Donald Sterling.
Showtime Lakers as Entertainment
- Buss transformed Lakers games into entertainment spectacles, blending sports with Hollywood glamour.
- Innovations like courtside celebrity seats and the Lakers girls cheerleading squad boosted the team's allure.