It’s a Man’s World with Jeanie Buss

Disclaimer: you don’t have to know or like anything about basketball to enjoy this interview ;) 

 

Jeanie Buss is the controlling owner and president of the LA Lakers - and quite frankly, the road she took to get there could be a season of ‘Succession’. As the owner and president of the Lakers, she’s one of the most powerful people in professional sports — and the true story of the Lakers is her origin story as well. 

 

Her father, Jerry Buss, was the majority owner of the Lakers from when he bought the team in 1979 until he died in 2013. His 66% controlling ownership was eventually distributed amongst his six children through a trust, with each of them being granted an equal vote, and installing Jeanie as the Lakers’ governor and the team representative at NBA Board of Governors meetings. Per her father’s succession plan, Jeanie was chosen to take over as president and controlling owner and later became the first female controlling owner to guide her team to an NBA championship.[4]

 

We spoke about the ways Jeanie has steadfastly paved the way for herself in a male-dominated industry, specifically how she unapologetically embraced her femininity by doing things like posing in Playboy the same year as becoming president of The Forum…*chefs kiss*. She shot her pictorial in the stadium the Lakers played - where her father worked – and well, I just live for that kind of ballsiness. 

 

We talked about her relationship with the former head coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, as well as their breakup, her decision not to have children, about the last memory she has of Kobe Bryant and how that tremendous loss impacted her. She opened up about the parts of her childhood she had to heal from, the surprise of gaining a full-blood sibling she didn’t know existed until a couple years ago, and the impossible aspects of working for the family business. 

 

Needless to say, working so intimately with your family leaves room for conflicts, and the Buss family has definitely had their fair share. Many of you are probably familiar with a specific conflict between Jeanie and her brother Jim that resulted in her firing him, because, in short, she was worried he'd make trades the Lakers couldn't recover from. In response Jeanie’s older brothers sued her and mounted a campaign to remove Jeanie from her position. We talked about making that decision and where she and her brother stand today.

 

Download this episode of Tell Me About It with Jade Iovine wherever you get your podcasts! And to continue the conversation DM me: https://www.instagram.com/jadeiovine/

 

Executive Producer Nick Stumpf

Produced by Catherine Law

Edited and Engineered by Brandon Dickert

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