“Going to Let the Team Fall”: Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss Explains the Tough Decision to Fire Her Brother

Los Angeles Lakers owner and president Jeanie Buss has lived a very interesting life. Perhaps that’s why it’s being parodied to such great effect in Netflix’s new Mindy Kaling-produced sitcom, Running Point. Buss grew up the daughter of one of the most famous owners in sports, Dr. Jerry Buss, and eventually had to wrest control of the team away from her brothers after her dad passed away.

Buss sat down with NPR for a wide-ranging interview, and she went in-depth on being groomed for the job by her dad and what it was like to battle her own siblings for control of the family business.

“My dad explained it to me very well: he put me ultimately in charge. And he told me, ‘Jeanie, you have the hammer and I expect you to use it.’ Meaning if things aren’t going well with the team, I expect you to step in.'”

The last few years of Kobe Bryant’s career were rough in terms of winning and losing, but the Lakers allowed their beloved superstar to go out on his terms, which may be why LA is a popular free-agent destination. Buss described the post-Kobe plan as something her dad would never have approved.

“What was happening with my brother and the general manager was that they had made the decision that — once Kobe was retired — they were going to let the team fall all the way down to the bottom and collect draft picks. Well, [our father] never ran the team that way. He didn’t want to do a rebuild. What I saw was our fan base beginning to erode, losing faith.”

That’s when she fired her brother and took control.

If Jeanie Buss hadn’t taken over, the Lakers would be in a much worse place

It’s hard to argue with the results of Jeanie’s power move. The Lakers signed the game’s biggest star, LeBron James, just a short time after she took operational control. They won the NBA title in 2020, the 17th in franchise history, and they’re now well-positioned to compete this year and in years to come, thanks to the Luka Doncic trade.

They accomplished all this without ever bottoming out or tanking for draft picks.

The Lakers are the league’s most popular franchise for a reason, and Buss understood that. Striving for greatness was the only option. It’s worked throughout the Lakers’ history, and it’s been working since she took over.

As a woman in a testosterone-charged field, Buss has had to work twice as hard as her peers to find success. It’s a testament to her skill as an executive that she’s achieved so much. Kendrick Perkins said on ESPN yesterday that the Lakers are saving the NBA. That doesn’t happen without Jeanie.