Who is Los Angeles Lakers boss Jeanie Buss? Exploring personal details of only woman to run an NBA team | NBA News

Jeanie Buss. Image via: Kevork Djansezian/ Getty Images

The Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss has made her stunning career adding the wholesome passion for the sport. Of course, she inherited her father Dr. Jerry Buss’s 66 percent stake in the organization alongside her brothers Jim and Johnny, but it was Jeanie who has extended the legacy of the heritage-rich organization that now has NBA veterans like LeBron James.

Who is Los Angeles Lakers boss Jeanie Buss?

Jeanie Buss. Image via: Netflix

Jeanie Buss, who is estimated to have a net worth of $700 million (per Celibrity Net Worth), has been running the Los Angeles Lakers. She is also the president of the organization with 100% control over the franchise.
It was no easy feat to walk down the road to run such a prestigious organization. Buss has been widely praised as she has kept the franchise afloat, sustaining its glory. She is also the only woman to run an NBA team. “The pressure is enormous in terms of becoming a role model and breaking through,” Buss recently told NPR.org, sharing her candid remark on running the franchise.
Explaining her feelings of being the only woman to run an NBA organization, Buss added, “That wasn’t ever my intention in doing the job that I do, but I felt an enormous pressure not to fail. And, you know, feeling that there was probably a lot of people that wanted to see me fail, just because I’m a woman in this business.”
Certainly, her journey to being the Lakers owner has been fascinating, rather, inspiring for many. Buss added, “I think in some ways it was easier to be a woman. I never intimidated anybody, so people didn’t have their guard up when I was around. So I think people probably told me more things than they should.”
Her goal is quite clear now. “But, you know, once we won a championship, I think that kind of went out the window. Now I’m competition,” she added.
Jeanie took control of the Lakers in 2013 following the passing of her father, the legendary Dr. Jerry Buss. As team president, she faced internal challenges, primarily in 2017 when she had to fire her brother, Jim Buss, from his role in basketball operations. This move sparked a power struggle in the family as Jim and their older brother, Johnny, attempted to remove her from leadership. However, Jeanie fought back and ultimately secured lifetime operational control of the franchise.
“He put me in charge and he knew what I would do,” she told NPR recalling the incident. “He asked me to do something, which was to protect the Lakers. And I did it,” she continued.
The Lakers boss later revealed that she is now on good terms with her brothers: “I’m on good terms now with my older brothers, but they were doing what they thought was right. If they had won and were able to take me out of my position, it would have put the Lakers in chaos. We probably would have been forced to sell the team because we would have been completely dysfunctional without having a controlling voice in all ownership matters.”
Also Read: Jeanie Buss throws shade at Anthony Davis while reacting to Los Angeles Lakers’ game-changing Luka Doncic deal: “He wasn’t happy”
Jeanie has endured a lot to sustain her role in the Lakers. It is no secret that she has been running the organization well, saving it from the internal conflict as it went onto the verge of selling it. Currently, the Los Angeles Lakers worth a whopping $6.5 billion.