- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,258,087
- Reaction score
- 59
Several months ago, Mark Walter, a billionaire businessman who has owned the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2012, bought a majority share of the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family. That sale effectively ended the reign the Buss family had over the franchise since 1979, when the late Dr. Jerry Buss purchased it from Jack Kent Cooke.
Until Walter's purchase, there was a feeling that the Buss family wouldn't ever sell the Lakers. But with Walter now in charge, there is optimism among Lakers fans that things will change for the better, especially since Walter's Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series championships and three of the last six world titles.
In a CNBC interview, Jeanie Buss, Dr. Buss' daughter and the governor of the Lakers, said her late father would've been OK with ownership of the franchise changing hands, per ESPN.
The elder Buss died in 2013, and in his 34 years of owning the Lakers, they won 10 NBA championships while missing the playoffs just twice. Since then, with the younger Buss in charge, they have won just one title and gotten past the first round of the playoffs only once, and they have missed the playoffs seven times, including six times in a row from 2014 to 2019.
The team is expected to have roughly $50 million of salary cap space this summer, which will give it the opportunity to truly build a very strong roster around Luka Doncic. Dan Woike of The Athletic recently wrote that the Lakers are expected to make some important hires for their front office this summer and model their front office after that of the Dodgers.
Some have interpreted that as a sign that general manager Rob Pelinka's job could be in jeopardy.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Jeanie Buss: Dr. Jerry Buss would've supported sale of Lakers
Continue reading...
Until Walter's purchase, there was a feeling that the Buss family wouldn't ever sell the Lakers. But with Walter now in charge, there is optimism among Lakers fans that things will change for the better, especially since Walter's Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series championships and three of the last six world titles.
In a CNBC interview, Jeanie Buss, Dr. Buss' daughter and the governor of the Lakers, said her late father would've been OK with ownership of the franchise changing hands, per ESPN.
The elder Buss died in 2013, and in his 34 years of owning the Lakers, they won 10 NBA championships while missing the playoffs just twice. Since then, with the younger Buss in charge, they have won just one title and gotten past the first round of the playoffs only once, and they have missed the playoffs seven times, including six times in a row from 2014 to 2019.
The team is expected to have roughly $50 million of salary cap space this summer, which will give it the opportunity to truly build a very strong roster around Luka Doncic. Dan Woike of The Athletic recently wrote that the Lakers are expected to make some important hires for their front office this summer and model their front office after that of the Dodgers.
Some have interpreted that as a sign that general manager Rob Pelinka's job could be in jeopardy.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Jeanie Buss: Dr. Jerry Buss would've supported sale of Lakers
Continue reading...
