Jerry Buss passed away early this morning and the entire NBA has felt the affect. After it was announced late last week that the Lakers’ owner was in the hospital dealing with cancer, he passed away at about 5am at Cedars Sinai Hospital. Buss’ health only got progressively worse since his surgery this past summer, which was assumed to be cancer related. He was 80 years old.
Jerry Buss had been the owner of the Lakers for 34 years since 1979 and during his ownership, the Lakers made it to 16 NBA Finals and won 10 NBA championships. That essentially works out to going to the NBA finals every other year. Remarkable. He’s considered one of the most successful owners in sports.
Kobe Bryant has been struggling with the decline of the beloved Lakers owner. When asked what the one thing he would take away from Dr. Buss was, Bryant responded:
“I was trying to encourage him to come down for the opening game (earlier this year). He would never come down to the court. I said, ‘Come down to the court and let these people of L.A. give you the love you deserve. Let them, just one time, give you a standing ovation for everything that you’ve done.’ And then he said, ‘Normally, I wouldn’t do that but, you know, I actually would like to do that.’ That’ll be the one thing I’ll take from him.”
If the current team takes anything away from this loss, it is to look at the rest of the season with the same vision Buss had for the franchise for so many years. Jerry should serve as an immediate inspiration to the team. Without motivation, the Lakers’ championship prospects look bleak and in reality, the players owe Buss better than this.
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