Monday, February 18, 2013

RIP, Dr. Jerry Buss

Thank you, Dr. Buss, for bringing respectability to sports in Los Angeles.

From "Jerry Buss: A true sports visionary" by Ramona Shelburne at ESPNLA.com:

From the day he bought the team from Cooke, the Lakers were a family-run organization. Buss and his family ran the team -- his six children all have roles within the organization now -- but everyone who either played or worked for the franchise became a part of the extended family. The stories of Buss' generosity and kindness are legendary around the league.

Rasheed Hazzard, whose father Walt Hazzard played for the Lakers in the mid-1970s and later worked for them as an adviser, said Buss not only kept his father on the payroll after he suffered a catastrophic stroke in 1996, he assured him he would always be a Lakers employee for as long as he owned the team.

"He stood by his word," Rasheed Hazzard said. "When my dad passed away [in 2011] he was still an employee of the Lakers and our family is eternally grateful. Without him we would have lost our father in more ways than can be described."

graphic via EPSNLA

5 comments:

spank said...

*pours some out*

(cries)

spank said...

Seriously feels like I lost a family member.

(cries)

Dusty Baker said...

Bought a 40oz just so I could pour some out for old Doc Buss.

And drink the rest on my day off.

Dusty Baker said...

Hopefully RIP on that infernal video on the home page here that autoplays, too.

In fact, 187 on that mf video.

Cliff Beefpile said...

R.I.P. to the best owner in all of professional sports, from a Clipper fan.