{"id":33670,"date":"2022-10-22T17:30:28","date_gmt":"2022-10-22T22:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/?p=33670"},"modified":"2022-10-24T10:37:37","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T15:37:37","slug":"jerry-buss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/jerry-buss\/","title":{"rendered":"Rags To Riches: How Jerry Buss Became The Greatest Owner In Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Dr. Jerry Buss was a larger-than-life character whose impact on US sports can still be felt today, nearly a decade after his passing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buss was an American\nbusinessman and the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers from 1979 until he\ndied in 2013. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following his death,\nLakers legend Kobe Bryant called Buss \u201cthe greatest owner in sports ever.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
High praise indeed,\ncoming from one of the greatest basketball players ever, who also tragically\nlost his life seven years after Buss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this article, we look\nat the story behind the success. How did Jerry Buss make his fortune, how did\nthe teams he owned perform, and what is his lasting legacy? Keep reading to\nfind out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gerald Hatten \u201cJerry\u201d\nBuss was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on January 27, 1933, at the height of\nthe great depression era in the US. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His father, Lydus,\nabandoned Buss and the rest of his family when Jerry was a young child. This\nleft his mother, Jessie, to raise Buss and his three younger siblings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The family moved to Los\nAngeles when Buss was nine before relocating to Kemmerer, Wyoming, three years\nlater when Jessie married a plumber named Stub Brown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brown would make a\nmassive impression on the young Jerry in business and personality traits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After moving to Wyoming,\nBuss started working for his stepdad\u2019s plumbing company while still in school.\nJerry would wake up at 4.30am to dig ditches for hours before heading to\nschool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This undoubtedly formed\nthe strong work ethic that was the platform for his later business success.\nStill, they weren\u2019t happy times for the future Basketball Hall of Fame\ninductee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Jerry\u2019s\ndaughter, Jeanie, Buss felt like an outsider in Wyoming and was never accepted\nby his stepfather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a 1998 interview, she\nexplained this lack of acceptance \u201cmade him a very compassionate person.\u201d This\ncompassion and care for others were evident in Buss\u2019s generosity later in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time he\u2019d reached\nhigh school, Jerry had secured a job in a local hotel, where he would make two\ndollars a day. Despite his extracurricular work commitments, Jerry never took\nhis eye off the ball academically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like his biological\nfather, who went on to teach statistics at Berkeley, Jerry loved math and\nscience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He earned a scholarship\nto attend the University of Wyoming, graduating two and half years later with a\nBachelor of Science degree. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He left Wyoming to\nreturn to LA, where he continued his studies at the University of Southern\nCalifornia (USC).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the age of 24, Buss\nearned an MS and Ph.D. in physical chemistry and was ready to truly make his\nmark on the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n