“Wish we could give Kobe Bryant a 6th championship ring but he will reflect on this”: When Jeanie Buss gifted the Lakers legend a 25 diamond ring to commemorate his 20-year career in LA

Jeanie Buss gave both Kobe Bryant and Vanessa Bryant two rings each to commemorate the former’s 20-year career with the Lakers. 

There are only a handful of athletes who mean more to the city they play in than Kobe Bryant meant to the city of Los Angeles. Perhaps Kobe’s biggest fan, at least in the Lakers front office, would have to be Jerry Buss’ daughter, Jeanie Buss. Even after the 5x champ would retire from the game of basketball, he would sit down with Jeanie and talk about various directions the franchise could go in. 

Jeanie consulted Kobe Bryant on everything from hiring Magic Johnson to run the team to pursuing LeBron James in free agency in the summer of 2019. Taking it back to the 2000s, she would do the little things too, like tell head coach Phil Jackson to play Kobe when he’s got the hot hand.

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The time when Bryant lit up the Mavericks for 62 points in three quarters saw him being benched in the 4th quarter by the ‘Zen Master’, prompting Buss to approach him. 

“I got in a big fight with Phil on the way home because I said, ‘Why would you do that? He’s making all the shots,’” said Jeanie to Phil. The latter responded with, “That’s not basketball Jeanie. You just don’t do that,” to which Buss said, “Yeah, but it’s fun.” 

All in all, the main takeaway is that Jeanie Buss loved Kobe Bryant. 

Jeanie Buss gifts Kobe Bryant a 25 diamond ring prior to his retirement. 

Prior to Kobe’s final days as a player for the Los Angeles Lakers, Jeanie Buss invited both him and his wife, Vanessa Bryant to a private room that saw them receive two incredible rings, each. The rings were designed to commemorate Bryant’s time with the purple and gold; 5 large diamonds for the 5 championships and 20 smaller ones for each season he played for them. 

“I wish it was a 6th championship ring that we were giving him. But I think this is something that he will reflect on over the years as something very special about his time with the Lakers,” said Jeanie.

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