The NBA has always been a man’s world, but that doesn’t mean that a woman can’t make her mark. There was a time the team owners were all men, and then Jeanie Buss busted through the glass ceiling to become one of the most influential women in NBA history.
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Jeanie’s father was the legendary Dr. Jerry Buss, and she learned at his side to become a legend in her own right. She took over as the controlling owner of the Lakers in 2013, and helped put together the 2020 team that won the title.
Buss has been married to comedian and Lakers superfan Jay Mohr for just over two years, and on his recent appearance on Byron Scott’s Fast Break, she naturally became a topic of conversation. Byron Scott and Jay Wagers had nothing but good things to say about her.
“She is a pitbull in a skirt,” Scott said, adding, “Don’t get it twisted, business-wise … I witnessed her sitting side by side with Dr. Buss, learning the game, learning how to be an owner. You know it’s a trip when he has three or four boys but he picks her out to say, ‘No, you’re gonna be the one that runs this franchise.'”
Wagers spoke to Buss’ softer side, telling a story of how well she treated even the lowest Lakers employees. “For me, my experience with her, is I was a ball boy with the Lakers for many years, almost 20,” he said.
“One day, there was no Christmas party for the Lakers, and they said, ‘We have something for all the employees, but you have to come to the facility to get it,'” he continued.
So he went to the facility, and Jeanie just happened to be there, giving out the gift cards. At this point he had never met her. “I’m still young, I’m probably 18, 19 years old at this time. She literally gave me a hug and just held on and said, ‘Merry Christmas to you and your family.’ And at that moment I was like, ‘Oh my God, she is amazing,'” Wagers reminisced.
There’s no denying the positive impact that Jeanie has had as a highly successful woman in a male-dominated space. She was an executive producer on the Netflix show Running Point, which is loosely based on her life. She is now expected to continue running Lakers operations even after the record-breaking sale of the team to Dodgers owner Mark Walter is finalized, something that could happen in the coming days.
