Continuing our countdown of the 20 greatest figures in L.A. sports history with No. 16, Jerry Buss.
No. 16 Jerry Buss (no first-place votes, 723 points).
Amid the pageantry of the Lakers' ring ceremony for their 2010 championship, Kobe Bryant wanted to make sure one man received the proper credit.
"None of this would have been possible," the superstar guard told the Staples Center crowd, "without the greatest owner in the history of team sports … Mr. Jerry Buss."
Certainly, no owner in team sports has been more successful.
Since Buss bought the Lakers in 1979, they have won 10 championships and been to the NBA Finals 16 times. Only twice in that span have they missed the playoffs.
While building the Lakers into one of the premier franchises in sports, he's done so with a certain flair.
"Right after I bought the team, I used to go into this little lounge in Santa Monica," Buss said in an interview with Times columnist Bill Plaschke in 2008. "The owner was also the musical director for MGM and they used to perform musicals there late at night, it was fantastic. Just before they would start, everyone would start shouting, 'Showtime! Showtime!' I remember thinking, this is how I wanted people to feel about their team."
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