Jerry Buss says Lakers can bank on him
By Mike Bresnahan
November 10, 2008
Owner Jerry Buss speaks with members of the media before the Lakers' game against the Houston Rockets on Sunday.
Owner says he'll pay what it takes, in salary and luxury taxes, to keep the team in championship contention. Retaining Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson is a priority.
Jerry Buss sat back in a supple leather chair, not far from an oil painting of James Worthy grabbing an alley-oop pass from Magic Johnson in a long-ago NBA Finals game against Boston, a symbolic backdrop these days for the owner of the Lakers.
In the latest offering of the difference a year makes, Buss, 75, was relaxed and humorous Sunday in an interview, revealing with a glint in his eye how badly he wanted a Finals rematch with Boston while also saying how much he wanted to keep Kobe Bryant if the 10-time All-Star became an unrestricted free agent next July.
Along those lines, Buss said he would continue to pay luxury taxes on an annual basis "if that's what it takes to win."
He also envisioned Coach Phil Jackson staying beyond the expiration of his contract after next season because "this team looks like a delight."
The mini-riot Buss touched off last year by saying he would entertain trade offers for Bryant seemed to have taken place a century ago as he recounted more recent dealings with Bryant, including a key phone call after the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol in February.
"I think Kobe very definitely understands how hard I made the effort to get sufficient talent to win," Buss said. "I was talking to him on the phone right as the Pau Gasol [trade] came through, and he said, 'Wow, I can go win with this now.' I think Kobe and I get along pretty well."
Well enough to open the vault again if Bryant leaves $47.8 million on the table and rips up his contract after this season?
"We really don't address those issues until they come up because we don't know what the environment is, but we can't afford to lose Kobe," Buss said.
In the 25-minute interview, Buss alluded numerous times to the sagging economy and the possibility of its trickling down to the NBA. Buss would probably have to sign off on a five-year contract worth $135 million if Bryant opted out next summer.
Buss said he could probably eliminate at least one compe or, taking a whack at a persistent rumor by saying he could not picture Bryant playing overseas.
"They have fewer games, smaller arenas and cheaper tickets and very little television," Buss said. "I can't see it, but there are people who are wealthy enough in the world that could make astronomical offers, and I certainly couldn't compete with that. But quite honestly, I just don't think that's a real threat."
Buss has presided over eight championships in his 29 previous years of ownership. He has also seen the Lakers advance to more than a dozen NBA Finals, though he would be dejected if they made it only that far this season.
"God willing for everybody staying healthy and that type of thing, then I feel that a championship is what we want," he said. "If we win the West this year, we've won it 15 times out of the last 30 years. Although that's pleasant, it's not our objective. Our objective is to be world champion."
Especially if it comes against the Celtics, who embarrassed the Lakers with a Finals-clinching 131-92 victory in Game 6 last season.
"I sincerely want to play them," Buss said shortly after revealing why he transitioned from real estate to team owner in the first place.
"One of the biggest reasons I bought the Lakers was to beat the Celtics," said Buss, who purchased the Lakers, the Forum, the NHL's Kings and a 13,000-acre Kern County ranch for $67.5 million in 1979. "If you were a Laker fan prior to my ownership, and you sat there and watched the Celtics whip us so many times, and how close we came -- one shot in one particular series -- you just got it into your soul that you couldn't stand the Celtics anymore."
Befitting the owner of a team favored in many circles to win another championship, Buss had compliments for many people in the organization.
* On General Manager Mitch Kupchak: "I've always been pleased with everything Mitch has done. It may seem that there are ups and downs, but our relationship has never been up and down. Everything that we've tried to do, we've pretty much accomplished. . . ."
* On Gasol: "When we got him, that was a dream come true. He's a different kind of player in a lot of ways. Sometimes I can't understand even how he gets 14 or 15 rebounds. He's been very pleasant and we couldn't be happier to have him."
* On the four-year, $57.4-million contract extension he gave Andrew Bynum: "I have to feel it was really fair to both sides . . . especially since we have him now. He could be one of the great ones."
Buss also expected Jackson, 63, to remain beyond a two-year, $23-million contract that would end after next season.
"With this team, he may grow very old and still be the coach. I don't see him going anywhere," Buss said. "I know he has some medical difficulties, but this team looks like a delight and I just can't see anybody walking away from it."
There are some things Buss doesn't expect. Despite the high expectations placed on the Lakers, he wouldn't predict a run at Chicago's record-setting 72-10 season in 1995-96.
"I think the West has improved so much that something like that would be very difficult," Buss said. "I thought that we could come close to 60 wins."
Then he paused a beat.
"I'd be happy with 73, though," he said, smiling.
Buss is currently on pace to pay about $10 million in luxury taxes this season and might pay a similar dollar-for-dollar penalty with a commitment of already more than $75 million toward only nine players on next season's payroll.
He shrugged when presented the financial facts on Sunday.
"We have to do what we have to do," he said. "I certainly don't like to pay the luxury tax, but if that's what it takes to win, then we're going to pay it."
Best owner in sports.
"I think Kobe very definitely understands how hard I made the effort to get sufficient talent to win," Buss said. "I was talking to him on the phone right as the Pau Gasol [trade] came through, and he said, 'Wow, I can go win with this now.' I think Kobe and I get along pretty well."
The part Dr. Buss left out was that he was probably getting sucked off by 2 or 3 nineteen year old supermodels while he was shaping his next dynasty on the phone.
it's easy to pay luxury tax for a winning team in a big market
Buss is one of the least wealthy owners in the association.
If I were Buss, I'd rather wait and see how much Odom asks for before proclaiming that I'll pay the lux tax.
As it stands right now, anything above the MLE (x2, considering the lux tax position of the Lakers) is going to be painful to pay.
i still dont think la will keep its core.
right now u guys have a boatload huge contracts
luke/mle
radman/mle
vujacic/5 mil a yr
fish/5 mil a yr
kobe will command 20 mil/yr in his extension (MINIMUM)
bynum is at approx 14 mil/yr
pau will ask for bynum's salary and he deserves it
if ariza continues to play like this, he should get paid within the 6-8 million range depending who wants to overpay him.
farmar will be a FA after next year. he's going to be looking at a 5-6 mil a season. and why not. he's an upcoming star
odom is such a valuable tool (pun intended) he deserves at least 10 mil a season with how he's playing right now. and with all the intangibles he brings. he deserves it.
buss will pay at least 20 mil of lux tax. if he wants to then good for his fans but not so much for him. and since he's not really a billionaire like most nba owners the lakers as a team should reward the old man with another set of three peat rings.
oh and colonel sanders is projected to make another 10 mil if not just a lil bit lower (8 mil/yr) though its not included in the lux tax payroll. its still a hefty amount of loot for a coach.
lol Odom is not worth 10 million
Maybe not, but I'm pretty sure there are teams willing to pay that much for his services.
After all, Rashard Lewis arguably brings less to the table than Odom, and look at what he's making...
Since Buss is willing to pay, and if the Lakers can win it all this year, I'd bet the core will want to stay because they may just keep winning. They will lose some players, like they did Turiaf who went for the $, but they are a tight group of friends off the court as well.
Rashard can shoot the ball though. But just because one team stupidly overpays a player doesn't justify overpaying a different player.
Which team is going to give Lamar Odom a 10 million dollar a year contract with the 2010 sweepstakes right around the corner? Do tell.
No one will because he isn't worth that much. He'll be close to 30 next off season and were talking about a guy that has proven to have little to no work ethic. It's not like he has some kind of upside or something. It's all downhill for him. Lamar Odom is a roleplayer at this point in his career.
buss is just the majority owner. he can make up the extra in lux taxes on sponsorships and raised ticket prices (they raise it every year). and while i dont like that tactic, as long as corporate is willing to buy the tickets and theres a 99% season ticket renewal rate like they did the past couple years, lux tax is no problem for the lakers.
Best news all week!
This is how LA hopes to do it.
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgnsBefore the game Jackson even lamented the Lakers’ “abundance of talent,” saying he was concerned about finding minutes for everyone. That could explain why rival team executives say the Lakers have made Luke Walton, Chris Mihm and, in at least one instance, Radmanovic available in trade discussions. Getting rid of the weighty contracts of either Walton (four years and about $22 million left after this season) or Radmanovic (two years, $13.3 million) could not only lessen the luxury-tax hit the Lakers will take this season, but also give them greater flexibility to re-sign Odom this summer.
Time for the magic wand!
No way any team who has any dreams of competing will help LA out by taking a bad K from them. But IF LA can somehow swindle a team like OKC or Charlotte, offering a 1st round pick as well, then Mitch needs to replace Obama in the White House.
Buss knows how important Odom is to the team, that's why he was never traded. If the Lakers win a championship this year, I can see Odom taking a paycut for a long term deal and retiring as a Laker.
And remember last year how everybody wanted to trade Lamar for Shawn Marion?
Shawn Marion-$20 million/year
10 pts
8.5 rbds
34 minutes
Lamar Odom - $11 million/year
10 pts
7 rbds
26 minutes
Don't know if you can call Buss the best owner in sports. He did have a public scuffle with Shaq, and that was before Shaq was traded. And, from what Kobe has said, Buss did alienate Kobe by allowing the press to believe that Kobe demanded Shaq get traded. To me, Buss is very similar to George Steinbrenner and Jerry Jones, maybe a younger Al Davis before he went crazy.
He certainly has done well in terms of hiring people who know what they're doing. But, a great deal of success the Lakers have had has nothing to do with Dr. Buss as the owner. The Lakers sell themselves to free agents, and the Los Angeles market even in the current CBA financial landscape allows for the Lakers to do things many if not most other franchises simply cannot.
Lamar Odom is definitely worth $10 million a year by NBA standards, but not much more than that. And, Rashard Lewis is a tough comparison because there's no way he's worth his contract. The Magic definitely overpaid, probably egregiously so.
Nobody wants Luke Walton and the FIVE years remaining on his contract. And, no one wants Vlady either.
^ true but i think their contracts arent too bad. there are worse players with more money owed to them. keeping walton as an insurance policy in case a 3 or 4 goes down is nice to have. hes not a horrible player just not very good.
kind of a curveball but i just noticed the lakers have no one in the top 50 in minutes played so far this year. the most is pau at 34mpg and thats 56th in the league. if they can rest pau kobe and the rest of teh core and limit them to 30-35 minutes per game, thats gonna be HUGE in the playoffs
Luke Walton's contract is very bad.
Agree his contract sucks but he is not a HORRIBLE player in fact I remember Rick Carlisle saying he would love to have Walton on his team because he brings intangibles (When doing work for ESPN) He will play OK when we do play him but he makes way to much ...
Vlady is overpaid but he has a skill that we really need and that is 3 point shooting so it doesnt hurt as bad ...
If the Knicks can pay $100 million, Cavs pay $90 million for those teams, and Mavs pay $85 million, Jerry Buss can afford to pay $90 million+ for a winner.
Fisher will retire after next year and that will clear $5 million. Farmar is already locked up for 3 years for cheap.
It will cost about $16 million to keep both Odom and Ariza.
Ding's piece from the same interview, focused more on the Kobe side of it.
Buss makes clear his support of Bryant
The Lakers owner has an understanding of his star these days.
Kevin Ding
LOS ANGELES – Consider the following comment from Lakers owner Jerry Buss, because it speaks to so much more than the Lakers being NBA favorites again:
"It always feels comfortable when I'm on top. It feels uncomfortable when we're not."
When I'm on top. When we're not.
This is why Buss understands Kobe Bryant better than most. They are, in fact, more the same than different.
Within each is the massive ego to believe that he is a fundamentally a winner – and a loser only when others let him down. Perhaps that degree of self-absorption makes kind-hearted average Joes out there shake their heads. Whatever.
It's the kind of self-confidence and self-reliance that has driven Buss and Bryant to tremendous success.
Buss conducted a sit-down interview with select reporters Sunday night before the Lakers moved to 5-0 by routing the Houston Rockets. Buss made clear that after all that he went through with his star player in 2007 there remains a unique appreciation.
"Kobe just wants to win as much as any human being in any sport, ever," Buss said. "So I think he's always going to be a little edgy, and I think it's really good that he is."
Buss had made clear in a similar interview about a year ago that he would honor Bryant's trade request if the Lakers could get comparable value in return. Buss had the ego to believe that he could win without Bryant – six of Buss' rings were sized before Bryant hit puberty, remember – and the ego to believe he could win Bryant over again and win with him.
"Kobe and I have always understood one thing about each other, and that is that our desire to win shapes our personality – and especially in our dealings with each other," Buss said. "I think there has always been respect – independent of the fact that there have been moments of grief – and deep down there has always been that respect level that I knew he was the most compe ive of all the basketball players ever. And I think he understands that about me, as an owner."
Asked if Bryant can be assumed to be happy as a Laker now that the team is so well positioned, Buss was not about to sell Bryant's fire short.
"I don't think he'll be happy until he wins a few more championships," Buss said. "I think he's only got a few rings, and not as many as he'd like."
For that reason – and because he knows how much Bryant wants all things to be the best – Buss dismissed the much-speculated scenario of Bryant going to play overseas in a smaller, lesser league: "I just don't think that's a real threat."
This was the extent of what Buss would say about Bryant opting out of his contract at season's end and possibly leaving the Lakers with nothing, but far more likely getting a new deal from Buss: "We can't afford to lose Kobe."
Buss was cautious in his estimates for this season – projecting "close to 60" regular season victories ("I'd be happy with 73, though") and refusing to declare the Lakers the team to beat until he better evaluated the Celtics for the expected NBA Finals rematch ("I sincerely want to play them").
But the implications are obvious. Buss noted about Andrew Bynum: "He could be one of the great ones." And Buss revealed more confidence when asked how long he envisions Phil Jackson coaching the team: "With this team he may grow very old and still be the coach. I don't see him going anywhere. It depends on him. I know he has some medical difficulties, but this team looks like a delight. And I just can't see anybody walking away from it."
That would include Bryant, with whom Buss made a point to contact directly when the clouds parted unmistakably back on Feb. 1.
"Kobe very definitely understands how hard I made the effort to get sufficient talent to win," Buss said. "I was talking to him on the phone right as the Pau Gasol trade came through. And he said, 'Wow. I can go win with this now.' So I think Kobe and I get along pretty well."
Never shall it be like it was and is with Buss and Magic Johnson. Buss reminisced unsolicited Sunday night with a practically romantic recollection about strolling around the field at a USC game with Johnson just before his rookie season
"From that day forward," Buss said about the Lakers and their fans, "it has been a love affair."
Buss would like to get back to a time when Bryant was accepting invitations to swing by Buss' Playa del Rey home for lunch after Lakers practice in El Segundo. Buss said Sunday night he thought it could happen.
Like the man said, that might be a few championships away. But rest assured, the championships are coming.
Buss is nothing like those 3 guys. What a terrible comparison.
The public scuffle with Shaq was about money. Shaq wanted a ludicrous extension that he wasn't worth and Buss didn't want to pay a declining player that kind of money. That's called good business and ended up being the right move in hindsight.
What a load of misinformed crap this is. New York hasn't won jack in 30 years. And the CBA gives no advantages to the Lakers whatsoever. Fact is Buss is one of the least wealthy owners in the NBA. Guys like Dolan, Cuban and Allen could out spend Buss in their sleep.
No misinformation. Apparently, it's just you have poor reading comprehension.
New York has advantages like Los Angeles does, but notice how I said Buss has done a good job at hiring people that have done a good job. The Knicks haven't done that.
And, I didn't say the CBA gives the Lakers advantages. I said "even in the current CBA financial landscape," the Lakers have advantages. That means "despite" the CBA, not as a result or product of the CBA. LA has advantages of location, weather, celebrity, Hollywood, music industry, the Playboy Mansion. Those are what I'm talking about. I said "EVEN IN THE CURRENT CBA FINANCIAL LANDSCAPE," not "because" of the CBA.
Reading comprehension.
And, Buss is like Steinbrenner, Jones, and Davis in that he gets fetishes for players and will do anything to get them and then discard them with no regard for loyalty once he feels he has no more use for them. That's how they are similar "TO ME." TO ME. Disagree with it if you want, but that's MY opinion.
More to the point that Buss has the strongest argument for best owner in all of sports. Won the West 15 out the last 30 years. The main constant is the owner.
Those advantages don't mean anything in the grand scheme of things as New York has proven. The Los Angeles Lakers would have been an absolute failure if Donald Sterling was running things the past three decades.
You can have your opinion. Doesn't change the fact that's it's wrong, dumb, misinformed and has no basis in reality. Buss is is one the loyalist owners in the NBA with mountains of evidence to back that up.
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