James Hatten Buss was born on November 9,1959 and is an American sports executive.
31 Facts About Jim Buss
1.
2.
Jim Buss is a part-owner and former executive vice president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association.
3.
Jim Buss is the son of former Lakers owner Jerry Buss.
4.
Jim Buss was president of the Los Angeles Lazers professional indoor soccer team from 1985 to 1989.
5.
Jim Buss later trained thoroughbred race horses for nine years before joining the Lakers in 1998 as an assistant general manager.
6.
Jim Buss was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in 2005.
7.
Jim Buss was born the second of four children to Jo Ann and Jerry Jim Buss.
8.
Jim Buss grew up with older brother Johnny and sisters Jeanie and Janie.
9.
Jim Buss attended college at University of Southern California, majoring in math before he dropped out.
10.
Jim Buss invested in a small business with his best friend, but the friend died in a car accident in 1981.
11.
The death left Jim Buss devastated and lost, and the business was left to fade.
12.
In 1985, Jim Buss became president of his father's indoor soccer team, the Los Angeles Lazers, after his brother Johnny had quit.
13.
Jim Buss brought annual losses down from $1 million to $500,000, but the team folded in 1989.
14.
Jim Buss next became a horse trainer, receiving from his father the half-dozen thoroughbreds he owned.
15.
Jim Buss started with the Lakers in 1998 as an apprentice to general manager Jerry West and his assistant, Mitch Kupchak.
16.
Jim Buss continued to learn the basketball business from his father as well as West and then Kupchak, who was promoted to general manager in 2000.
17.
In 2005, Jim Buss was promoted to vice president of player personnel.
18.
Jim Buss was the only family member present at Jackson's welcome-back news conference, which the Los Angeles Daily News wrote "was viewed as significant".
19.
Jim Buss stuck with Bynum as he struggled with immaturity and injuries, and he withstood demands from Bryant that Bynum be traded.
20.
Jim Buss instead hired Brown without consulting their star player, Kobe Bryant.
21.
Jim Buss later said it was a mistake to not involve Bryant.
22.
Jim Buss said his father continued to be "involved in every decision" in the final months of his life, and he chose D'Antoni.
23.
Former Lakers player and part owner Magic Johnson, who was close to Jim Buss' father, believed that Jim Buss needed to put aside his ego and seek assistance to help the Lakers recruit against rival teams for free agent players.
24.
That season, Jim Buss signed Bryant to a two-year extension worth $48.5 million, even before Bryant had recovered from an Achilles tendon tear.
25.
In January 2014, Jim Buss pledged to his siblings that he would step down if the Lakers were not contending for the Western Conference championship in three to four years.
26.
On February 21,2017, Jim Buss was fired as head of basketball operations of the Lakers, though he continued to be a part owner of the team.
27.
Jim Buss is introverted and avoids the spotlight, and has never joined any on-court public ceremony for the Lakers.
28.
Jim Buss rarely spoke in public as a Lakers executive, while general manager Mitch Kupchak usually handled the speaking responsibilities regarding player personnel.
29.
Jim Buss is sometimes portrayed in the Los Angeles media as a slacker with his father's tastes but without his business savvy.
30.
Public perception is that Jim Buss was instrumental in distancing the team from Jackson, including discounting his assistant Shaw from succeeding him as Lakers head coach.
31.
Jim Buss married in 1983, and the couple adopted a son, Jager.