Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Ep 11: Jeanie Buss (Los Angeles Lakers owner)

Episode Date: June 19, 2018

Controlling Owner and President of the Los Angeles Lakers, Jeanie Buss sits down and talks about her childhood - how she dealt with her parents’ divorce, how she used to sneak away by the horses at the racetrack, and what living at the Pickfair Mansion was like. Jeanie gets into her life with the Lakers...what it was like when her dad bought the team in ‘72, her dad bringing Magic Johnson to the team and they became great friends, and the tough decision she had to make in firing her brother as the executive vice president of basketball operations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Visit RBC.com slash Ion Cards. You're listening to Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum. This week's guest is Jeannie Buss. I can't believe she was in my living room for an hour and a half. Daughter of Jerry Buss, controlling owner and president of one of the greatest teams in sports history, the Los Angeles Lakers. I wanted to be the guy. There's this guy when the Laker girls come out, Rob. He goes, he literally, his job is to say, after they're done performing, he says,

Laker girl. That's all his fucking job is. Laker girl. You could probably pull that off. Could you imagine that guy, like in bed after he finishes, he climaxed? He's like, thank you. Jeannie's the best. We talked about her nicknames.

She's one of the kindest, most generous friends that I have. She, I don't know why, but we met. We're going to talk about that because it's a really interesting fun story. I'm just a lucky guy. You just meet some people in life and by accident and you're just nice and you don't know who they are. and they turn out to be the president of the Lakers and you get free tickets and you bring your friends and it's been years.

She's amazing. We're going to talk about what it was like to pose for Playboy in 1995, how the internet hasn't let those photos get away. We're going to talk about when her dad bought the Lakers. Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in the early 70s and drafted legendary Magic Johnson and how we just showed up to her house and they became best friends.

She was like 17. He was 19. The chairman's room at the Staples Center was created for Jack Nicholson just so he has a place to smoke indoors. Some interesting stories. I asked her if she ever powdered her nose with Jack. We'll hear her answer. Let's get into a Jeannie Bus. It's my point of view. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience. You said I could ask you any question today. Yes. You

You may. And I might just do that. Okay. So thank you for allowing me to be inside of you today. My God. All right. These are your nicknames. First of all, your name is Jeannie Marie Bus.

Yes. J.B., Jeannie Marie, the jeanster. Weans. What's weans? Weens, that's like Jeannie weenie, you know, weans. Jeannie weenie. Of course. Why should I know that?

Why shouldn't I? no wienes. Poodle. I love that one. I've called you bus stop when there she's and oh little Jeannie. Yes. Oh little Jeannie. How many times did you hear that in your life in? A lot, but I doesn't ever get old for me. Did any boyfriends ever sing that to you while you're intimate? No, no. Oh, little Jeannie. I wish. I'd probably like that. Would you? Yeah. Oh, that's kind of weird. Nice. It's cool. Well, I still have people who call me J.B. But it came from my roller hockey days when I ran a roller hockey team and all the guys, for whatever reason, called me J.B. Like, I was the boss, J.B. Hey, J.B. And so it always makes me giggle when I hear, you know, see someone from that time period that still calls me J.B.

So nobody's allowed to call you J.B. unless they knew you from that roller hockey time period. It just really stuck. You know, you never really know what kind of nicknames are going to stick with you. Well, you know what my nicknames were. Rosie. Rosie palm, frozen, Rosenbaum, because my mother made frozen dinners. Raisin brand. This is the shit I had to deal with. Rob, my engineer, little producer over there, youngster.

What nicknames did you have, Rob? I didn't really have too many nicknames. I just went by Rob. Thanks for adding to this conversation, Rob. I'm sorry. He's a good guy. He's Mary. He's 28 years old.

29. Yep. Now, listen, I'm telling the people listening today, you don't have to know a lot about basketball. No. Or really sports or anything to listen to this podcast because, again, this is, I don't know a lot about basketball. And you specifically said, Rosenbaum, don't look me up. You just, let's just talk. Right.

Now, I looked you up a little bit because I had to know some things, right, because I see you at the game. But I want to learn something. I want everybody out there to learn something. So they'll take something with them. Okay. Yeah. Like, so if somebody Googles me right now, like make sure that you're not at work because some of the pictures are not suitable for work.

Well, what pictures are those? Because I posed in Playboy. Oh, yeah. I wanted to get into that. In 1995. So when I did that, like the internet was kind of quiet. Quiet. And so you didn't.

But I mean, I was I was told if I ever did that, like it never goes away. And so the internet just kind of made it a lot easier. What do you think about the internet? I mean, what do you think technology? It's kind of a love hate, isn't it? I love, I think it's a great equalizer. It's a, it gives you. you an opportunity to connect with people that you probably wouldn't be able to find.

My grandparents, I FaceTime them, my grandparents. So it's a nice connection. They live far away. Yeah. You know, they lock themselves out of the iPad and I don't get to this often. Do you ever take a screenshot when you're talking to them? Oh, yeah, all the time. Yeah, so that you have it.

I didn't know you could do that until just recently. Well, oh, yeah, you press the top button and the middle button. Yeah. But I like to take my assistant Jessica's phone and videotape the FaceTime. So I have these FaceTime. I'm going, what the hell is this? What are we doing? What is it?

You know. Where do they live? They live in Florida where every other Jew lives when they're dying. Not that they're dying. No. I mean, I hope they don't die. No. I mean, I hope they live forever.

Absolutely. But that's not a reality, is it? Kind of makes you want to go visit them. My grandfather said to me once, he's got Alzheimer's now. He's been fighting Alzheimer's and it's terrible. It's the worst thing. Yeah. But he said to me like 10 years ago, he was only in early 80s.

he says Mike like like I'm still a child when I talk to him I still am that little boy Mike I've lived a great life I had a family I went to school I had grandchildren I had so many fun times in my life this is a great life you don't feel bad for me if I die he was like telling me so but it was really inspirational like look at all the great things he's done yeah and so I try it's hard not to it's hard to look at just the sad you know oh my gosh this is the end but you got a I don't He wanted to share that with you, and, you know, hopefully that will resonate with you as you progress into different life stages. Into maturity, maybe.

Yeah. I need to get older. I need to start getting a little more mature. Don't you think? I doubt it. You doubt that's going to happen? Well, it's hard. It's like you're out here and it's just fun all the time and you're doing fun things.

I'm responsible. Yeah. I mean, you know what? Stay young. I think that's a good place to be. Do you stay young? Well, my dad, I mean, when I think about my dad, you know, he, you know, loved having a family, but he also really liked going out every night.

He was a big kid. Yeah. And there's nothing wrong with that. Nothing. How did we meet? Do you remember? Absolutely. Where were we?

This Kobe Bryant autographed basketball, I think, is the night that was it? No. It wasn't. I just put it out there anyway. No. Let's see. It was at a, like a CW event. It was.

I always forget that a CW event, the CW event. The CW. is, it used to be the WB. Right. And Smallville was the WB into CW, right? Yeah. For a long while, I couldn't get on a network with more than two letters, Jeannie. So we met and you were with Stacey.

Yeah, my friend, yes. And so I was a really big Smallville fan. And so I wanted to meet you. And Stacy, my friend, who is like a great wingman, you know. She is the best. Right? And everybody needs it. I've been her wingman.

too. So like, you know, it's like whatever the situation is. And so she like, she goes, no problem. And she kind of did like a walk by. And like she talks about it. She like, so oblivious. I never noticed. It's like, I think, you know, people were getting food. And so she had to get by you, but she did kind of like a butt rub. Like she like, that's right. It was like, famous bus Kennedy butt rub. Yes. Yes. So it was like at the drive by. And so I don't know how we ended up. I remember you looking just. Here's the. I'm going to be honest with you. And I've told you this.

I didn't know who the F you were. I didn't know who the, listen. Why would you? But I didn't know who. This sounds like I'm pretending, but I wanted to be honest about this. I did not know who Jerry Buss was. I had never been to a professional basketball. I was a hockey fan and a New York Mets baseball fan and a giant.

That's it. I followed one team. I didn't listen to anything else. I was oblivious ignorance. Call it whatever you want. I had just moved to L.A. pretty much. Smallville had taken off.

I again, not. And so when you approached me, I was like, oh, here's this gorgeous one. woman who's for some reason nervous to meet me. I don't know why. And then we start talking and we start talking for a long time. And I was like, wow, that was the nicest woman I've ever met. I mean, you're the sweetest, most down earth. And I thought she's not in this business. She must have just moved out here from Colorado. Right? No. I really thought that. Well, I was invited by, I think his name was Paul McGuire. Paul or Jerry. No. He was like in charge of like talent relations.

So I, like when he had people on the CW who wanted to go to a game, so what were the other kind of shows like one tree hill and? Seventh Heaven. So he would call me and say, say, hey, I have some people that want to go to a game. And so I guess that was like his way of saying, hey, why don't you come to one of our parties? Because he was always asking me for tickets to send people. So I was like, oh, really?

like because Smallville was my favorite toe and so so I had no idea I'm oblivious you start talking to me and then I remember you gave me a card and you said hey if you ever want to go to a game and I remember walking away and I go with my friend Roger big black dude I went to college with and he's like man I can't believe you were talking to Jeannie Bus I'm like why dude look at the car man Lakers Jerry Bus is her father I'm like uh uh Lakers man are you an idiot and I I didn't put it together. I just, again, thought you were just this down-earth sweet, which you are. Right.

So I waited a couple of weeks or maybe it was a month or whatever, and I said, hey, I email. I said, what the hell? I've never been to a basketball game. I think you're missing one other because then I, you played in a celebrity hockey game. Oh, yeah. And so I played a lot of those. Right. And so I was at that game.

Were you creeping on me, Gene? No, but I was, no, no, I was, it was kind of like, whoa, here he is again. And, like, our paths crossed again, like, within a couple weeks. And so then I think we talked to you in the chairman's room. And it wasn't, like, for All-Star or anything, it was just somebody, Luke Robatai or somebody's hockey game. And there you were. And then from there, then I went to end up going to a game.

Yes. And I remember I was, it's an unbelievable thing. I feel like the luckiest guy in the world because, you know, it's like, this is why I think it's very important in life. well, just to be a good person. You never know who you're meeting. And if you're just genuinely a good person, it's just things are going to work out better anyway.

It's easier to be nicer to people. Don't you agree? I agree. So we met next thing you know, I was like I got four tickets to a Lakers game. Actually, the first time, didn't I take Tom Welling? Yeah. I know.

She's like Googly-eyed. You love Tom. I know. Everybody loves Tom Willing. He's so honky, isn't he? Not only that, but then talking to him. He's just dreaming. Do you know how hard it was for seven years?

to be standing next to I was this bald weird looking guy with this big bump and I was I mean I'm I'm an okay looking guy okay but then I'm bald next to him which makes it fucking worse and all the girls are looking at him every guest star wanted to bang him but he was loyal to his wife I don't know why he got married such a young age so I started going to these games chairman's room he's hanging out with you and I think tell me if I'm wrong I think what happened was you invite a lot of people to games you know you'll have people. But there was a connection where I think you just saw the kid in me. Yep.

What was it that you kept asking, say you can come to any game you want? Well, because you're funny. And it just made the games fun. And, you know, there was some great high moments and winning championships that you were there and sharing that. And then there were some lows and losing and players getting hurt. And it didn't matter because we're having fun. Well, you just kept it.

real and kept, you know, I don't know, just, I really appreciated your energy. And I still do and I invite you all the time. So you did. You sent me an email and you're like, whenever you want to come to go. And I kept thinking, no, no, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to wear out my welcome. But you just kept, I remember one time I was like, wow, good luck with the championship game. She goes, you're coming. Right. I go, what? Game seven. Yeah, you're coming, right? I mean, that's, it's just ridiculous. Does it piss you off and we'll get there. because I want to start about, I want to start talking about

like your family and like growing up because it's just that amazes me. But does it kind of pitch show because it pisses me off? I'm a Knicks fan. I have a reason to be upset. How many championships

have the Knicks won since I'm born? 72? Zero. Zero. Zero. Now if you're a Knicks fan, I get it. There's been a lot of problems

with the Knicks and management and players and this and fan. It just hasn't worked out for them. And I hope one day it will. But. They won in 73. They did win in 70. That was the last one. That was the last one. Sorry. But I look at this franchise, Los Angeles Lakers, how many championships?

They're 16. Is that the most? No. The Boston Celtics have 17. They have 17. Yeah. And, you know, they beat us in 2008, and that was a low point for us because, you know, my dad really wanted to, you know, get more championships than that. the Celtics. So it's one thing, it's great to be in the finals, but then to lose in the final socks and then to lose to your biggest rivals, which means now they've got 17, so now it's going to be that much harder to surpass them. But then you won in 2010. Then we came back and I was there for that. And that was amazing. Yes. So we're one behind. Yeah, we're one behind. Now doesn't it kind of piss you off? And you could lie. You could sit here and lie to me. Okay. But if I was a Lakers fan,

I'd say we have second most championships in NBA history. We always win. And you've got to understand that you can always win. So if you go into a little bit of a lull and things happen and injuries and Kobe retires and all these things, don't you want to say, fuck you? We give you so much happiness and joy and winning that I'm like, you know, that's why I'm not a fucking owner. That's why I'm not a president because I'd be like, fuck you.

Because I'd be like, am I wrong? It is hard. You can't win every year. but you have to, like, be going in a direction. Like, you can't just say, because I know there's some teams in different leagues that, especially, I think, in baseball because there is no salary cap structure. So you literally have one team whose payroll is $50 million competing with a team that's payroll is $200 million.

I just don't even get how that's possible. And, you know, when you're in a smaller market, you're selling tickets to the Yankees, even though they're the visiting team, but there's Yankee fans all over the country. And that that would be a difficult thing, I think. You put a lot of pressure on yourself, don't you? Well, I mean, I think our league is set up really well so that because of our cap system, that every team has an opportunity to compete for a championship every year. But is that ultimately true with, you know, the super teams now?

Well, yeah, I mean, absolutely. you don't want to see all the, the talent, you know, come together and dominate. Because LeBron could say, hey, come on, play with me. You're my boy. And everybody, you know, that sort of thing happens, right? Well, I, again, I believe our league is the best league in that, you know, when you're a player, you're drafted to a team. And you're pretty much going to stay on that team and, you know, probably for, you know, seven or eight years. And then at some point in your career, you become a free agent and you get to decide where it is that you want to play. Now, there are some players that want to go someplace and be the guy and just say, like,

this is going to be my team and I'm going to be the leader, or you have some who say, you know what, I just want to be with a bunch of guys that I get along with that I have, you know, we have a connection. And I'm a person who does not deny a free agent their right to choose. at some point in their career where they get to play. Because you've got to keep in mind, they get drafted. You know, these kids, you know, they've worked their whole life. They got to choose what college they wanted to go to.

And now they're really at the mercy of a bunch of ping pong balls as to what the draft order is going to be. And, you know, you're going to get drafted and you're going to be kind of stuck somewhere and you've got to make the best of it. And it could really make or break your career. So I think free agency in our league is we should stop the free agent shaming when, you know, people second guess a player's decision. If they decide to move on to a different team, you know, that's their right. I think I've always just been this lovable loser.

You know, I love the New York Mets and they just disappoint me and I love the Knicks and they just disappoint me. So when they finally win something, it means so. much. I guess that's why the question came about the Lakers. It's like fans, it's not like the fans never experienced winning. I think you get so used to winning that. That's true. So are you a Jets or a Giants fan? Giants. Giants all the way. I think your parents sort of dictate, you know, when you come out of the womb, when I came out of my mother's vagina, it was a Giants, Knicks, Rangers, Mets, you know. Well, why Mets and not Yankees? You know, I think my dad just loath. We all loathe the Yankees because they were always winning and they were always the favorite. And you got the, you know, the when the Mets came out in 1962, they'd lost 120 games. And it was just like, I think my family just loves losers. I mean, and if you look at them, you'll understand that's not nice. It's really not nice. I think we need to talk more about this.

About what? My loser fan? No, they're not old losers. By the way, you saved my dog's life. I want to thank you for that. I just did what somebody did for me because Dr. Farr, she's an excellent doctor. And, you know, she did great work with my dog who's since passed away. But I'm glad that you got to meet her and that Irv is doing great.

It was one of those moments where I just, I think I Facebooked and I was just like, holy shit. And you text me immediately because you know that connection you have with an animal. It's unlike any other connection you have. It's just unconditional love. Yep. Did you feel that way with you? Yeah. I'm getting the chills.

Yeah. Just thinking about, like, how. You know, just we're lucky that we have the resources to, you know, get the best doctors to take care of the people we love and the animals we love. I don't get emotional that often. Oh, that's not true. I'm watching the Vietnam PBS documentary downstairs and I was bawling to the point where my dog looked at me like, dude, you're a dude. Dude shouldn't cry this hard. We looked at each other.

But I was in Dr. Farr's office when I just looked at it and I go, hey, can you just tell me, does there have a chance to see again? and she looked at me and she goes, yes, I really believe, and I'm telling you right in front of my assistant and this doctor I've never met, I'm bawling. And I'm like, oh, my God, thank you so much. And I looked at Jess and she's like, she starts to cry because she sees me cry. And it was just like, I think a good cry.

Have you ever seen a man cry? A few, yes. Was your dad a crier? I only saw my dad cry twice once when his mother died and once when Magic Johnson had to retire because of HIV. Wow. and that had to be exceptionally hard on you just i mean it it you know he was a very stoic strong man but that you know the things that really touched him he he he he felt things you saw like this

yeah you saw the human being the the the the real person the you know because it's probably tough to be like especially for you again we'll get into that but to always convey this i'm a powerful i'm together i'm fucking perfect everything You have to, well, you have to present like everything's okay. You're the person like if the plane's going down, you're the pilot. Hey, ladies and gentlemen, I know we're going down, nose diving into a mountain, but everything's going to be just fine. How do you do that? That's leadership.

That's what you have to do. You have to step up and you have to be in control, even though you might be scared to death. Inside of you is brought to you by Quince. I love Quince, Ryan. I've told you this before. I got this awesome $60 cashmere sweater. I wear it religiously. You can get all sorts of amazing, amazing clothing for such reasonable prices.

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Download the Rocket Money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show. Inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum. Rocket Money. I see a therapist. Do you go to therapy? I used to think people, I've said this before, people are crazy who go to therapists. And now I'm like, people who don't go to therapists are crazy. You got to work your shit out.

Have you ever been in group? Oh, my God. No, that just scared me. Well, hi. I just got nervous. Because I'm paying someone that will just shut up and listen to me and be objective. And like I could tell my darkest secrets too. And they, but telling a group.

I think group like was really the one of the turning points for me. And and I'll just tell you like for me it was it was like a co-ed group. So it was girls and guys and like, you know, just trying to like deal with people. You know, I'm very shy, very shy. and so there was this one guy that he just didn't like me and I could feel it and I knew at some point you know you're meeting every week at some point I'm going to have to confront this guy and say like what did I ever do to you like why don't you like me well what made why didn't you think he liked you what was he saying was he just like snotty yeah snoddy turning his head

like oh gosh not this this her problems and and I had a dream that he and I were in car and he was in the music industry. And so he and I were in a car and I said, oh my God, I have my, you know, favorite CD or whatever. And I put it in it and it was like Ricky Nelson's greatest hits. And he goes, you've got to be kidding me that that's your favorite CD. And he literally kicked me out of the car. What? And so I knew this had this was like I had to confront this guy. It was like consuming me. So I finally- He's a bully. He was a bully, and I had to stand up for myself. So I finally got up the nerve and said, you know, it just seems that you don't like me.

What did I ever do? You don't even know me. And he said, girls like you didn't give me the time of day in high school. His own issues. His own effing issues. Yeah, it had nothing to do with me. You're a pretty girl, smart, got it together, and he felt insecure. And it was such a good learning lesson for me because there's going to be people.

in your life that don't like you and have attitude towards you and it has nothing to do with you at all and some say it's none of your business what other people think about you that's true what do you think what do I think you know I'm trying to grow up I'm trying not to give a shit about what people think I know it look at you it's it's harder than hell every article you look on a sports center it's like you get all this shit know this and the she's in playboy doesn't she have any respect and you start what do you do how do you turn a blind eye and I always like I want to I'm a people pleaser I want everybody to have fun I want everybody to you know you want to be liked you're a performer that's like I mean you

you literally have to get people to like you to work I think so but I also think there comes a point where you're like hey I'm gonna do my work I'm good I'm good enough to do it I know what I'm doing and I can't worry about what everyone else thinks or if I'm gonna fail or if I'm gonna suck I mean have you ever thought like you thought that way like you know what I'm gonna do the I'm gonna make a decision based on what I think is right now what everybody else thinks I should do. How many times have you done that? I mean, that's like when you're flying is like when you really don't care.

And you know that every decision you make is the right one for you and that what you've learned, your experience, and it all comes together and you just do what you have to do. Do you have those moments where you're flying? I think I'm in terms of my career, in terms of the Lakers, I feel like that's where I, you know, I'm doing exactly what I've been taught by the greatest owner of all time. It's in the Guinness Book of World Records. Ever, ever. My dad is the most winningest owner in the history of sports.

And no one will dispute that. And so, yeah, so I feel like everything is going the right way because I'm doing what I've been taught, my experience, my history, everything. It's in the blood. Right. The bust blood. The blood. So, okay, that's a great way to segue into what the F was it like. I'm been hanging out with my friend John Heeter.

He's a Mormon. He never says F word. So he says F. So now I'm starting to say F. Okay. So if I say F or S a D, you just figure out what I'm saying. Okay. S a D is just, anyway.

How did your mom was Joanne? Now, how did they meet? Get me there. My parents met in when they were. students at the University of Wyoming. That's where they both went to undergrad. And they were married shortly after that. Really? Love at first sight sort of thing? I mean, for sure, for my mom and, you know, my dad, you know, he just was smitten with my mom. Like, even though they, you know, divorced later, their relationship was in. What year were they married? I guess like 55, 56.

And what was Dr. Buss doing then? I know he got in a real estate, obviously, right? Right. I mean, my dad was a mathematical genius. And so he graduated with his undergrad degree at age 19. And then he got, he could have gone anywhere to study for his Ph.D. And he chose USC because he really liked the football team. And so my mom went to work to support him while he finished his.

school and he got his Ph.D. at age 23. And he just really wanted to be a teacher, but he knew he wanted also to have a family, to have children, and that he needed extra income because the teacher's salary wasn't going to be enough. And that's when he started investing in apartment buildings. And because of his mathematical background and real estate in the 60s in Southern California, it was a good combination. What was the big one? What was the one that said, now we're rich now we're not just like mom you know mom's not working uh what was the big you mean when we got the cut the Cadillac Eldorado is that I don't know that I guess so yes was that the big thing but what was it what did he sell in an apartment building of

it just it just kept growing yeah acquiring numbers like no one else and not and not only you know acquiring buildings but building buildings and so he built a lot of of the buildings that are still in Santa Monica. So anybody who lives in a building in Santa Monica that's named after a monopoly game, that was my dad like St. James Place, you know, that my dad was naming it.

That was his favorite game as a kid. So he just. And what year is this when he started, you know, the big bucks were rolling in? Like the mid to late 60s. Mid to late 60s. Into the 70s.

Okay. So he has your other brother first, right? That's Johnny. Johnny. the oldest one, and he was born in 56, and then Jimmy was born in 58 or 59, and then I was born in 61, my sister was born in 63, yeah. Okay, so growing up in this household, how together were you? How, like, close were you

honestly back then? You know, not all that close. You know, if they named us all like Johnny, Jimmy, Jeannie, Janie, Joanne, Jerry, like, we were all Jays, which. you know my mom we just all answered to each other's names like it was just confusing it's confusing and um but you know we we um spent our summers in delmar california which is where the race track is the horse race track and so what we would do is um my dad would save all the racing forms and he taught us how to handicap which is you know where you you take the racing form and you you look at how horses perform under certain situations, you create a set of, of, you know, dynamics in like, how did the horse run when the track was wet?

How did he run if he had a week off or three weeks off? How did he do at 113 pound jockey versus 190? It's already confusing. It's incredibly confusing. But, I mean, it's basically what they call analytics today. Right. We called it handicapping. Right.

And so. And you were all learning this. This was what we did on our summer. And everybody did this? Everybody was all into it. Wasn't there one person in the family? He was like, you know what? I'm going to, uh, like, go F off.

Yeah, Johnny was more into music and riding motorcycles and stuff like that. But, you know, it was like we did like comic book collecting and horse racing handicapping. Do you have a big comic book collection? I have a really good comic book collection. You do. You still like comics. Oh, my God. Now, that's weird.

Now, you think, you know, it's like getting into the whole women's lib and all that. And it's like women with comic books. And it had to be tough growing up in a family, too, where it was like male dominated for the most part, right? Was there a lot of egos and a lot of testosterone going on in the family? Yeah. I mean, you know, it was like my brothers liked all the Marvel comics. And I was like a D.C. person. On purpose, just to just to say, you know.

Well, it's like my brother. I remember maybe I was like 12. 12 or 13, and, you know, my oldest brother talked my mom into taking us to the Comic-Con, which in 74, the Comic-Con was at the El Cortez Hotel in the ballroom. And there wasn't that many. I mean, it was like small. It was like, you went there to buy comics and or trade, you know, like. And so I just, you know, would get all the lowest lane, Jimmy Olson.

And how old are you? Supergirl, super boy. I was like 12, 13 years old. And I, you know, I mean, I read them. Like, it wasn't just collecting them. I read them. And so I was like the DC universe versus the boys were like, you know, the Marvel, Fantastic Four, Captain Marvel, that kind of stuff. No, Lex Luthor.

You haven't said Lex Luthor one fucking time. No, he didn't ever got his own title. I know, never. And we don't have hardly any dolls out there. And he got no, like, romantic lead. Although I do think, and I don't know if that was in Smallville, did he ever, like, hook up with Lucy Lane, like Loises, younger sister? Lex did have some fun. I remember Regis Philbin called him sexy Lexi.

Yeah, there were a couple episodes where he had sex, but I got, I got like in my head because they always cut the scenes out. So I thought maybe I just wasn't sexy because they cut the scene out with Kelly Brooke, who is a, she's an actress, lives in London. been very beautiful. Yeah. And I got to have a sort of a scene with her and they cut it. What character did she play? It's just some girl who's trying to screw over, screw Lex over, of course, right? So she's evil.

Right. The only person he really loved was, was Lonelang. Oh, yeah, he did. Lonelang. You know, Lonelang, we, Lex, and they had a relationship. I love that you know this stuff. Like I'm talking to you know, here's what's funny is you know more than I do. People go, oh, so in a comic book number 400.

I go, I don't, I don't have any idea. I just play the character. Well, you know, Superman only dated girls whose, you know, initials were LL. And so, like, when I was young, I was panicked because how was I, how was I, yeah, like, it was like, I wasn't going to fit into the Superman girlfriend role. Did you, if you look back at the young genie bus, jeanster, meanie, what was it? Weeny. Weenie, weenster. Oh, the weenster.

do you look back and go how did this happen or do you think it all makes perfect sense because at your age you know when you're 12 you're in the comic books you're maybe doing girl were you doing girl stuff or were you were you like when did you suddenly become interested in what dad's doing and that whole idea of like owning something and and being a powerful woman did that occur to you then you know I was definitely into girl stuff and like when we would go to the racetrack I you know This is, you know, before security was really anything. I used to sneak back to where the horses were, you know, because, you know, girls all love horses. And boys.

Fun to go back there and do that. But really, the turning point came in the early 70s. I was in my dad's office and there was a tennis match on TV. And it was Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs. Right. And he pointed to the television and said to me, this is going to be. to change the world. And he, the very first team he ever owned was a world team tennis team that that was a league that Billy Jean King and her husband, Larry King, created. And what that was about

world team tennis was it was two men and two women together on a team where they would play each type of tennis. You'd have mixed doubles, men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, women's doubles, five sets of tennis, and the scoring would be cumulative. So the whole point of it was that for Billy Jean, it was gender equity. It was about that men and women were competing on a team and equally contributing to the outcome of a win or a loss. And so my dad bought a team called the L.A. Strings, and that was in 1976, 77. Were they good?

Yeah, we had Chris Everett, Ealing, Assangell. Stasi, you know, they won a championship in 78, and then the league folded. But, you know, that league is, you know, Billy Jean King played for a team called the Philadelphia Freedoms. Right. And her, one of her really dear friends is Elton John. And so he went to her tennis matches in Philadelphia Freedom. That song was written for Billy Jean King because of that team. So this whole era of, it was empowering.

And it was like wonderful, beautiful to see. And you were like, I was hooked. Right. You were hooked. Because then only what a couple of years around that time, you ended up being, now I'm going to read this. But at 14, you were going to meetings with your dad for the world, meetings with your dad. I don't understand that. I mean, you were that mature already at 14?

Well, I mean, my dad would send me out to get donuts and then I'd bring the donuts in the room. And then instead of leaving, I would just sit in the whole. corner and watch what was happening. And so, you know, it was a really good opportunity. And, you know, one of the owners in that league that owned the Boston lobsters was Bob Kraft, Robert Kraft, who now owns the Patriots. That was his first team. He never owned a team before either. So it was these very competitive men who were, you know, kind of learning the business. And to me, it was fascinating. wow I can't even imagine being in a meeting with my dad I mean it just it just wouldn't work out so your parents were divorced around that time that's sort of when they got divorced right in the early 70s yes it was how hard was that it was hard it was you expected were you going was this did it come out of left field were they fighting a lot were your parents always married like did they ever my parents should have been divorced many many years before they did get divorced and they divorced like it was hell it was like when I first moved out from when I was starting in Los Angeles. And, you know, my mother was just a mess. I can't live without. I can't fucking do this.

I'm like, Mom, it's three in the morning. I film in two hours. Can you just stay alive for another few hours? So as a, how old were you when they divorced? I was in elementary school. And, you know, back then in the 70s, they used to tell you, um, spare your kids, the details, you know, don't bring it on them. And which is completely different now.

Now you tell them like, mommy and daddy are getting a divorce. Daddy's going to live here. This is when you're going to see, you know, and they just never told me anything. So just mom wasn't around? It was, my dad wasn't around. And I, you know, it's terrible. I talk about it in my book that, you know, the kids would ask me where my dad was. And I couldn't understand.

I didn't know the answer because I'd asked my mom. She'd say he's at the office. That was all I ever heard was he's at the office. Right. And so, you know, I finally started telling kids like he was dead because then they wouldn't ask me anymore. because I couldn't answer their questions. That's horrific. It was terrible, but that's like what you do when you're a kid.

You make something up to just, this is the answer. Stop paying attention to me, right? Leave me alone. Yep. And were those really difficult times even as a kid? Do you remember just being sort of alone when you were really young and just kind of like disconnecting? I couldn't understand why everybody else's dads were home on the weekend.

Like it didn't make sense to me. Like, why isn't your dad at the office? And what was their relationship once they broke up where they like completely like, don't talk to me or was it sort of they there was like their transition that they had to go through and then it took them years to do that it took them a few years and then um then they could come back together and be at peace and it was good now your dad you went and live with your dad at the uh pick fair house yeah when i graduated from high school um i went to stay with him for a summer before i started school at USC. And we had such a great summer. He said, why don't you just live with me while you go to

school? And I said, that's great. And he goes, but I have to buy a bigger house. And so we went and looked at houses. And he said, okay, today we went to lunch at the polo lounge. She said, today we're going to look at a house that it's like some old movie star, you know, blah, blah, blah. And I go, Pickfair, we're going to Pickford, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks house. You know, I mean, I knew all about it. How big was this house in the Hollywood Hills? Where was this? It's right behind the Beverly Hills Hotel off Summit Drive.

Huge. Huge. And it was back in the day, like they were both silent movies, huge, huge stars. And back then, because the films were silent, that means they could translate all over the world. So they were like worldwide famous, huge celebrities. And when they filmed together, they were each married to other. parties. And so it was kind of like the first big divorce in Hollywood. And so they kind of got

shunned from Hollywood itself. So they had to move to the boondocks to the country, which was Beverly Hills. So they were the first movie stars to live in Beverly Hills. And they bought an old hunting lodge. And that's what became Pickfair. And, you know, Mary Pickford along with Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin and D.W. Griffin started United Artists. They were the four artists that made United Artists. And so she just, she kind of became my spirit grandmother. You know, I just knew so much about her.

And I had actually watched her in 78, they gave her a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars. And she was like at her home. And she was just this frail little thing. And I'll never forget that. And so when we went to tour the house, two years later, there was the Oscar sitting in exactly the same room as when they presented it to her on the telecast. And so, I mean, I didn't think my dad was going to buy the house. I just, I made him take a picture of me in every room because it was like picked there and I only was going to be there once.

So it was on the market for $10 million. And this is like 1981. Which is how much now, analytics girl? It would be like a hundred million dollars. A hundred million. Because it was like it's three and a half acres. And he bought this place. He put in a bit of $5.2 million what he thought the land was worth because the house was in disrepair.

Right. And so because it was a probate sale, meaning that when she died, she wanted the money to go to charity, that means that the court had to decide what was a good deal. And so they accepted the offer. I think my dad was in shock. And how long did you live there? I lived there for, I think, five years. And I read that you gave tour guide, like guided tours or the... People absolutely loved the house.

And we could host a lunch in there and charge people and then give the tour. And we could raise $100,000 in a day. And, you know, like the early 80s, that's a lot of money. So I just became like a curator. And it had a room that, like, had a hidden button and it was like the bar and it was like built during prohibition so it was like everything would turn around and it was yeah it was like it was crazy and then there's like you know Charlie Chaplin ended up moving down the street and like all these you know it's it's they really

set the tone for what modern Hollywood movie stars are like wow so you're doing all this stuff as a as a teenager for the most part I mean growing up you managed a tennis team and you I mean how do you how do you do that how do you I don't know I mean just your dad's giving you this advice and this is what you do and then you just start running that yeah like I wanted to quit school and he said if you you can't have the job if you quit school school is the most important thing education's the most important thing so I you know would do my work go to school then like you know L.A hosted the Olympics in 1984 I hosted like dignitaries from around the at Pickfair. And you're a shy person. And back then you were probably shyer. You're like a

kajumagoo song. But it's like, you know, when you have a title, if you're shy, as an actor, you probably, I mean, you're not shy. You know, it's funny. But I pretend I'm sure. I pretend I have confidence, but there's sometimes where I'm like, I don't know what to say. But it's like, if you're playing a role, it doesn't matter. You're playing the role. You know your lines. You know what to do. That's, that was me. Like, I, you know, the head of. of a tennis team or Jerry Buss's daughter or showing Pickfair. It's a role. It's easy.

That made me comfortable. Wow. And so, yeah, the Playboy. In the beginning of this conversation, you said, yeah, well, you know, you're going to go online and you're going to see it. And back then, the internet, you thought, oh, if you didn't get the magazine, you weren't going to see it. Right? But now you see it. Yeah.

Now, I will just say one thing about the Playboy magazine. Okay. Beautiful. Thank you. I thought classy. and I think they should bring hair back. Well, I didn't realize. I think it's coming back.

How like the, like, there's like hair styles and then there's hairstyles. And I didn't know like. You're talking about your head and then below the waist. Yeah. And so like I would be, I would be considered like a kind of old school in the generation because it's like the early 90s of like, you know, racing stripes. That's like what was in. And so I would like like. Raising Stripes, where in what year was this with the Playboy?

It was like 95. That was 95 with the, but, you know, I did it, you know, and I, if there's any young people listening to this, I made that decision. I was 32 years old when I posed in Playboy, you know, and I couldn't have done it when I was 18. I'm glad I didn't do it when I was 18. It was like something that I had to kind of mature into and really make it a college's choice. I thought you were a lot younger. I didn't realize you were 32. 32?

Yeah, because I'd been married. And so I was going through a divorce, and I thought, okay, what are some of the things that I would want to do? And so, you know, and a lot of people thought, like, it was, you know, me asking Huff for a favor, but it wasn't. It was like I had to go through what every other model goes through, a test, photo shoot. They had to send the pictures to Chicago. I had to be approved or not. How long did the process take to get from the time when you said I want to do this to the time it actually happened? Almost a year.

A year. And would you ever think, oh, it's not going to happen? Yeah. It's like, you know, you have this idea in your head that, like, you know, now you're in front of the camera and you're going to take that robe off for the first time. And it's kind of like, oh, my God, the world's going to change now. Like, I'm, and it was like all the, you know, the photographers and the lighting guys and they can care less. We've seen this before. It's like.

We've seen the racing stripes. Again, it's like about how you feel about something and how you project it to the world. It's courageous. And, well, I mean, it's just, it's like, you know, it's about how I feel about it. It's not about anybody else. See, see how we got back to that. That is it's about how you feel. If you want to do something, you can't work.

Because I guarantee if you ask dad, what do you think if I should do this? What would he say? Did you ask him? No. I told him after the fact. And he, my dad was really good at quotes. And so when the issue came out, his quote was, it will be the first issue of Playboy magazine I haven't read.

So it's like, I approve of the magazine. This is my daughter. But this is my daughter. So he, like, walked a really good line. Now, do you think any of his friends were like, hey, man, he's like, shut up. I don't want to talk about it. So they goof on him? Did some of the players goof on him?

He asked his girlfriend at the time to, like, black it out so that he could see. see the pictures, but not see the... Really? I don't want to see her boobs or her junk, but just I want to see my beautiful daughter without any body parts. And he was very proud. He was very proud of me. And I was, I'm very happy to do it. And now, you know, now we just recently lost Hugh Hefner. Yeah. And he was, you know, he was kind of part of the family, somebody that I feel a little lost like losing my dad again because they were such good friends. My dad really. admired him. So you got to see him a lot. You had good conversations with you. You

really, you knew each other. I didn't really know that. Yeah. I mean, I didn't go to, he invited me to the mansion all the time. You never went to the mansion? I didn't. Not one time. I was like working, you know, I mean. I went a few times. Yeah. Rod Stewart came up to me and goes, man, are those ducks on your robe? He didn't talk like a country guy. He was more like, are those ducks on your robe? I'm like, yeah, they're little ducks. He's like, oh, great. I just wore a robe. So that was the midsummer nights party wherever you were supposed to go. Man, there were some people there, people in the grotto and, you know, having sex. And it was pretty crazy.

I actually made out with someone near the bird cage. It was a little dirty. Not the making out the actual bird cage. It was really filthy. I thought I talked to Mr. Hefner and asked him to clean that up. We're kind of going all over the place in a lot of ways, but I like that because it's like, you know, the conversation will take. But like when your dad, when was the day that you heard? that he wanted to buy the Lakers, which was what year was that?

He bought the team in 79. But how do you go from real estate to wanting to... Obviously, he's a fan. He was a big fan. He was a big fan first. And so he, he, I talked about the World Team Tennis team. He moved that team from the sports arena to the forum in 77 or 78. And he noticed that Jack Kent Cook, who was the owner of the Kings and the Lakers

in the forum, who also owned the Washington. NFL team, but I refuse to use their name because I think it's offensive. There was kind of like this rule that in the NFL, they really didn't like you owning teams in other sports. They wanted you to focus on NFL. So he owned this Washington team, but he was also going through a divorce and he moved to Nevada to set up residency so he wouldn't have to pay his ex-wife as much money. So like nobody was really around the the Lakers and the Kings, and my dad saw this opportunity, so he started conversations with Cook to buy the team.

And Cook wasn't, like you said, he wasn't really a hands-on guy. He was just kind of an absent owner. So Dr. Buss thought, you know, I'm a fan first. I want to own. I know what to do here. Well, he just wanted the Lakers. And so Cook said, if I sell you the Lakers, you got to buy the Kings and the forum, too. And were the Kings pretty horrific at that time?

You know, it's funny because Cook was the one who petitioned the NHL for expansion. So he really, really, really wanted the Kings team. And at that time, he owned the Lakers, and they were playing at the sports arena. So he finally got his expansion team in 67 from the NHL. And the Coliseum Commission, which run the sports arena, said to him, We don't want hockey in our building. We, it's like, ugh. And so he goes, really, are you serious?

Well, I'll just build my own arena. So he moved the teams to Englewood, built this beautiful arena called the forum, all based on, you know, Roman architecture, you know, definitely a themed building. And so he moved the Lakers and the Kings there. but he has this famous quote that I think you'll appreciate. The kings couldn't draw. They just did not do well in attendance. And Cook said, you know, I had been told that there's, you know,

two million Canadians that live in Southern California. He said, but now I realize they're the two million Canadians who didn't like hockey. That's why they moved here. That's amazing. That is amazing. So my dad ended up with. both teams in the forum. And, I mean, was he doing a lot of research on, you don't read a, you know, dummies version,

obviously wasn't a dummy, but like how to own a team, how to, because he's brilliant with all these numbers, but I guess that kind of goes into how it all worked out. It's all about numbers, isn't it? It's all about statistics and about building. Yes. And so how did that happen? In terms of how did he build the Lakers to a winner or what was he trying to do with the Kings that wasn't successful?

Well, I get, well, you know what? That's interesting too. but I want to, like, when he first buys the Lakers, it's like, when was the last championship they had at this point? They won in 72. 72. And he comes on in 79. Yeah. And so Kareem was still on the team.

Right. And he was a big fan of Kareem. And they had made a trade a couple years earlier. They sent Gail Goodrich to the New Orleans Jazz. And it ended up turning into the number one pick. So he buys the team, and they've got the number one pick in the draft. The NCAA tournament goes on, and it's Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird in the NCAA final. And my dad made the decision at that point that he was going to draft Magic Johnson,

who came out of school early because back in those days, you were supposed to stay for four years in college. And he petitioned to get an early exit. So he was drafted at 19, which was unusual, very unusual back that. And so, you know, he buys the team, closes the deal, drafts Magic Johnson. And this all happens within a year? Like in two months, this happened. Two months. Yeah.

And so it just... Did he become a hero overnight? He, well, and now, you know, it's like, I mean, he was 48 years old when he bought the teams. And he was so excited. And, you know, he's like a fan. He couldn't believe that he was owning the team. And he just did everything that you would do if you were. You were a fan.

You want to put respect back in your team, hard work. You're 17 at the time. And I remember I watched an interview and you've talked about this when Magic first showed up to the house. Yeah. He flew out to L.A. He came over to the house. This is the first time my dad's going to meet him. And my dad was upstairs.

The doorbell rings. He said, you know, can you go downstairs and open the door? It's going to be Magic and Bill Sharman. And he said, just offer them. something to drink and then I'll be down in a little bit. So I open the door and here's magic with that smile, that mega watt smile. And, you know, I'm 17. He's 19. So we're like basically the same age. And so I invite them in, sit them down. We start having a conversation. And he said, you know, I'm really excited that I was drafted by the Lakers, but I'm only going to stay

here for three years because I want to go back to Detroit, to Detroit and play for the distance because that's where I'm from. And my eyeballs went, what? Wait a minute. So I ran upstairs to my dad and I told him what I had to know. You're a freaking gnar. Well, he had to know because that was like, you told him right then or right when Magic left. No, right then. Did you know what he said? I said, dad, you got to know this. Like, it's like you got to do something. Did he bring it up right away? And so and my dad, you know, he was like combing his hair and he, he didn't even look at me. I'm telling him the story and I'm like you know and he he says he goes genie as soon as he puts on a laker uniform and steps out on the floor at the forum he's never going to leave that's he didn't

even look at me like he's he knew he knew what was going to happen he could feel it and and magic's never left right never never it just seems like he had so much confidence I mean where I mean where does that stem from was he always a confident kid and And, like, he always, was he just always? Strong will, determined, created a path. And what happened with hockey is that first year, he was awarded, like, the Kings, Rogi Vashon, one of the great goaltenders for that franchise, had been signed to the Detroit Red Wings.

And back then, they used to do free agency with compensation. So he signed as a free agent. And so Detroit had to give a player to the Kings. And this player was, his name was Dale McCourt. And he was going to be this great score. And so he refused to come to Los Angeles. He didn't want to skate in L.A. And my dad flew to Toronto to meet with them, offered him everything he could think of,

including, and this is such a thing that my dad would do. he he said i will pay for every one of your children and your unborn children however many children you decide to have i will pay for them to go to college what yeah like he did everything he could and and back then like the closest team was like in Colorado right and you know hockey was it was like a death sentence if you went to the kings you it was like you were in the movie slap shot like it was just the worst there really wasn't until i guess gretzky one of those right and and my dad was you know he's the one who started that transaction and then he sold the kings to bruce mcnaul who then got the credit for bringing gretzky but it was really

my dad talking to peter pockington about you know you're not going to be able to keep him there you should make the trade before wow and then that really helped it now it's like so different i I mean, it's crazy. I remember going to games even like, you know, early 2000s, and they were going, they were handing me tickets. They were emailing me, Rosie, will you come to a game? Free, whatever you want. And I go to get. And then they start winning.

It's like, hey, man, can I get some tickets to the, oh, we're all sold out here? No, Luke hooks me up every once in a while. But, you know, I noticed your dad was always close with a lot of players, right? He had a really good relationship with, were there any players that he didn't that he wasn't that he wasn't that? close with that just they didn't get along um i find that hard to believe but i mean you know i'm sure they're no i i i mean i my dad was a the type of person who could connect with anybody you know he he he he was a card player which meant he was really good at reading people and um he you know he he he knew how to break down barriers and he could connect with people at every different level

you never saw him lose as cool with players you ever saw him yell at a player um i think you know he he had his his moments with shack i think but and shack's like a big kid yeah and you know i mean it's always hard when a guy's in a contract year you know wants to be traded or isn't happy with his playing time which means then you've got pressure on the coach and right you know it's that's human nature. So all these years, what year was it you think around that time where you're like, you know, one day I'm going to own the Lakers? One day I'm going to do this.

One day I'm going to be the president of the Lakers. One day I'm going to take the control. I never looked at it that way. My dad, it was our family business and he wanted the team to always stay in the family. And I would play whatever role was needed. That's who I am. I'm that player that's like, what do we need? a rebound, you know, doing any points, do what do you need me to do? And that's how I am.

I just, I feel whatever role is needed. And so when he passed away, he put together my brother Jimmy overseeing basketball. He put me in charge of the business operation. And that's how he wanted it to go. And it just, it just didn't, it wasn't working. way because I um yeah because what happens it's the hardest you know I worked with my brother and it's never easy working with family and everybody has their ideas and I'm older or this or dad wanted this or you know and there comes a time where you just have to say what's best for this team right and that has to be the hardest when you're talking to family about it yeah and and we had this private family meeting where you know as as being in charge of the business side I have to be

able to forecast what our cash flow is going to be. So you have to know 12 months, 24 months out, you know, what your ticket prices are going to be and, you know, how you're going to manage the business. So I asked my brother how long until we're back in the playoffs. You know, just tell me so that I know how to manage the cash flows and how things are going to go. Just that simple. That's simple. When do you expect us to be in the playoffs? Is that an easy question to answer? I mean, I don't know. I mean, in other words, he could have said, you know, a year, he could have said 10 years. Right.

I just needed to know so that I could plan. And what did he tell you? And he told me three years. And I said, okay, all right, well, if we're not back in the playoffs at the end of the three years, then I'm going to have to make some changes. I mean, I'm just. It was simple as that. As simple as that. So, you know, he created this timeline.

which was really important to be able to operate off of. And then he did an interview a few weeks later, and he shared it with the media. And then it became, you know, the storyline. And so then the media comes back to me and says, hey, your brother told us about this timeline. Are you going to hold them to it? Well, what's the point of that kind of thing?

If you say, well, no, I don't know. Like, I don't, it's like, of course. You have to be strong. And now you put me in a corner and I have to do my job. Right. And the point was, he created it. So, like, why would I not think he would make it? Right.

Right. I mean, I just had to assume. So, like, yeah, we're on the same page. Yeah, absolutely. Like. Now, this is a call. Do you make to your brother that's like, it's a one on one? I've got to let you go.

Well, I guess it was kind of like we knew the day was coming last April because the season, we weren't going to make. make the playoffs. We would sit down and assess what happened. And so then it was kind of like, shoot, everybody's going to expect that. You know, it looks like that's what I'm going to have to do. Why not do it sooner than later? So I made the decision in February. And because a lot of people think like the offseason is when they're not playing games. But there is no offseason in the NBA because if you're not playing games, then you're preparing for the draft. And then you're playing summer league and then you're in preseason and it's it never ends so as soon as you know

you're going to make a change it's to me it was smarter to to make the change sooner than later in magic johnson he was available he was interested in the job and so i took that opportunity but it was two days before the trade deadline and so people kind of it raised some eyebrows like why would you do it then? But I think that's important. You know, once you make a decision, the longer you wait, and maybe I even waited too long to make the decision. And now Magic's president of business operations?

Basketball. Basketball operations. So it's come full circle. You guys met. You showed up to your door. How many years ago? It's like, too long ago. You know, what I want to see is like every year I want to see improvement.

I want to see progress. I want to see progress. I want to see that we're building something that will get us to be able to compete for a championship. You know, I've, you know, given magic the full authority to make all the basketball decisions. He knows he and I kind of were raised by the same person. You know, he spent a lot of time with my dad because he wanted to learn business. He and my dad spent a lot of time together. And so when we speak, we see things the same way in terms of the business and terms of the basketball.

And so we're of like mind. And he's family. He really is family. He really is family. And you can't say he has any other motivation other than wanting the Lakers to be great. Because in his position, being the face of the franchise for all these decades, even when he wasn't involved with the Lakers, he would walk down the street and people would say, like, what's wrong with the Lakers? You've got to fix them.

I mean, it was his responsibility, even when it wasn't his responsibility. So there really is no better person. What if he tells you, Jeannie, I'm going to do this for a couple years, but then I'm going back to Detroit. No, I know he wants. You can't do that? It's time. It's been so many years.

I got to get the pistons back on any funny Jack stories. Everybody knows Jack. He's always there. Did he ever go? Say, hey, Jeannie, why don't you come back? We're going to go snort, you know, powder our noses all fucking night with Karene. Magic's going to join us. Never anything like that.

You never party with Jack? No, no, no, no. He's a big partier. No, but when we were building Staples Center, A.E.G was planning it. They brought me in. They said, like, what don't you have at the forum that you'd really like at Staples Center? And I said, it would be really nice if we had a room where Jack Nicholson could smoke because he'd smoke in the janitor's, like, waiting room, like, at the forum.

That's all we had. Right. And so they created, the chairman's room was really created for Jack Nicholson. And so it has, you know, a room where you can smoke indoors because it's, it's all got all the filters. Does Jack ever call you ever in all these years and go, Jeannie, how are we looking this year? He's, he's, you know, passed on to messages to me. But he's, you know, he pays for his tickets. We've...

How much is a Jack Nicholson ticket? Just give me the idea. Is it over $5,000 a seat? We're not up to that yet, but we're at like $3,800 per seat per game. And so, you know, we don't bother him. He wants to go. He's been a season C holder since 72. I mean, he really wasn't like just jumping on the bandwagon when Shaq came or whatever.

where he's been through the ups and downs with this franchise. And he, you know, he cares about the team. What about your personal relationship with anybody on the team right now, the young guys? Do you have any kind of relationship where you did like your dad did with, you know, some of the guys back in the 80s or whatever? Do you ever like say, hey, what's going on? Let's get lunch. Let's talk about.

Or do you just say, do your job. I love you. You're great. I don't want to, you don't. No, I mean, like, Jordan. You're there for them. Yeah, Jordan Clarkson. I feel close to Julius Randall.

I'll never forget. Julius came and had lunch with me in the office a couple years ago when he was a rookie. And I was so amazed because he wanted to hear stories about magic in the Showtime era and all that, the forum. I mean, this kid's, he's like 20 years old. Watch 30 for 30 on that whole thing. That will give you a good. Wasn't that great? Exactly.

And that hadn't even aired yet. But he sat there for over two hours. never looked at his cell phone. You show me another 20-year-old kid that doesn't look at their phone in the two-hour listening to old stories. I do that with my friends. We have a rule.

Put your cell phones in the middle of the table when we're eating. It works sometimes. You ever do that? You can't do that. No, but, I mean, you understand. That's hard. It is hard.

Did you ever see Kobe and Shaq go at it? Yeah, a little bit. Not physically, but verbally. Because I don't think Kobe could. I mean, why would Kobe do that? like the wishbone and the you know the thing is is that you always knew that some point they're going to like CBS is going to put them in like an odd couple show and they're going to be sharing an apartment and I think deep down they love each other I did they they do they will like that's

that's the kind of thing like they know what they shared was special and you know they get their little comments to each other but Tom wellie and I we always sort of liked each other in the show but we never ever hung out and now that the show's been over we we hang out we're going we're going to a Lakers game. Was there like, was there jealousy there? Well, I was always jealous of his looks.

But I, I helped him in the first few seasons because he only was a model. You know, he hadn't really done a lot of acting. So I sort of, he asked me for help and we kind of, you know,

and he was, he was just a great guy. He was just a great guy to work with. That's very generous of you. Like, to do that. Well, I didn't think I was all that,

but I was just like, hey, I have experience. I've done this before. I went, I've studied this. So here's number one I learned, which I always forget is,

just listen. you know I think even in this interview right now it's like for me the more I listen it just the conversation goes where it will go because that's the most important thing especially with acting but I think if you just listen to somebody you learn a lot more you know you invited me to a game and Tom and I went a security guard came up to us and go Mr. Wellie Mr. Rosenbaum Shaq would like to see you because he was injured back in the locker room and they were working on his foot or his toe yeah his toes bigger than my penis so we went back there and we started

He's like, hey, man, what's up, soups? What's up, Lex? Did he really? Yeah, man. I was like, hey, what's going on? And we started talking. I go, hey, I heard this one story. You know me.

I got to jump into a story. He's like, yeah, what's going on? I go, well, I heard that valet, you gave, like, a tip to the valet. And the guy looked at you and goes, hey, man, you're Shaq. You should give me more than a 20. That's your tip? He's like, no, no, man. I got more.

And he goes, right down here. And the guy looked in the car and Shaq had his dick on the steering wheel. He goes, there's your tip. hit motherfucker He said something like that Something like that I love Shat He was he was in concert

Like the Kaboo Festival in Del Mar Do you know it? No It's like a music festival at the racetrack in Del Mar I want to go Oh my gosh it was so fun because I went Because I wanted to see Smash Mouth And like right after Smash Mouth

Was DJ Diesel aka Shaq. Come on. And so, like, I stayed and watched Shaq. That guy, I could watch Shaq do anything. Oh, he is the party. He is everything. I love that man.

I remember when they were honoring him, like, two years ago, what was it? Well, we did the statue just this past year. Yeah, but it was before that. Oh, the jersey. The jersey. That was a couple years ago. And I remember, I was just standing on the corner, and he was walking through with the press zombie interview.

And he just, I don't know why, but he saw me, and he came over and gave me a Look, like he knew me or something. I was like, oh, yeah, you remember the toe story? Yeah. He does know you. He was awesome. I love this. I mean, this is fun.

I always like talking to you. It's a joy. 80s trivia. Yes. If I said, because listen, you're a big 80s fan. You came to my 40th. Yeah. Was it my 40th, 80s dress up.

Spasmatics played 80s band. And you brought Linda Rambus and Kurt Rambus. And Kurt came dressed. as himself from the 80s in the headband. And we had the best time. I'm also having, right? Yeah. It was one of the best times in my life.

You know, I'm a huge Kurt Rambus fan. I love him. That's really, he's rambus youth. He followed. What do we call each other? Me, you and Linda. Rose and Bessonbaum. Rambussonbaum or something like that.

If I said a song from the 80s, if I said, you're too shy, shy, what would you say? You're too shy shy. touch touch eye to eye hush hush maybe it was touch touch touch tempted by the fruit of another that's easy I know all there is to know about the crying game oh yeah that was a dark one and I ran I ran so far away because I got to cut loose foot loose because I got to cut loose foot loose kick off your son day she was that's it you nailed it this big tree for me i didn't even get into the phil jackson thing aren't you happy about that yeah you don't want to talk about phil jackson i don't want to have a big weaner though you don't want to talk about that either just to throw away he had to you see his hands

oh she gave me something rob rob rob you have anything for genie this is genie bus in my living room jordan cobi or lebron oh jeez that oh um you mean i grew up in chicago in the 90s so i've obviously a big Jordan, Phil Jackson fan. I know you have. You know, here's the thing is like, and I just, I said it to his face, so it's not anything he hasn't heard. But I, you know, Michael Jordan is an owner now of the Charlotte team. And so he and I serve on the labor committee together. And when you're negotiating, you have all these breaks where you're playing cards and you're just, you know, passing the time until you start meeting again. So I said, I go, you know, Michael, I hated you. I'm sorry, but I hated you in the 90s.

Like, they dominated the 90s. Like, there was nothing else. It was, you know, kind of like golden state now, like where it's just like, oh, my gosh, they're so stacked. And I said, but I have to say now as watching you work as an owner, he is so good. I have such a, like, professional crush on him right now because he is becoming one of the leaders of our ownership. group and I'm so proud because I believe our, our commissioner, our, our league, a lot of new owners doing things for the right reason and making our league, you know, the best league

in the world. But as a player. As a player, I would go. I would, you know. It's hard to say that when you've been around the best your whole life. So it's not a great question, Rob, but it's a question that she probably has to answer. She probably knows it. She probably in her mind says, like, this is in my mind what I think is the best.

You were known as the top 20 most influential women in sports in 2011 Forbes called Buss, one of the few powerful women in sports management. ESPN said she is one of the most powerful women in the NBA. Don't you think that as a human race in terms of that we are evolving where women can be, where men are, and make as much money as men are and be as powerful as women are? I think you're an example of that. I, you know, I would like to be where gender doesn't matter, where gender doesn't come in the conversation. Because I almost feel like when, you know, someone says, well, the most powerful woman, it's like a little astras, like I have to have like.

How about the most powerful person? Yeah, I mean, and really what I, what would make me the most happy is to watch one of my players go into the basketball Hall of Fame. Like, it's not about me. It's about like the opportunity to bring together. a great group of talent from a front office to the players give them the platform that they need, all the tools that they need to, you know, be something special to win a championship. That's where I would get the satisfaction. I don't care about rankings and titles and all that kind of stuff.

Are you genuinely excited about the Lakers future in the next five years? Yes, I am. And I, you know, I'm, I pinch myself every day that I get to work with Magic Johnson. Rob Polinka, who's our general manager, is terrific, you know, a forward-thinking person. Like I said, I sit on the labor committee. You know, I think we have a group of owners that see the players as our partners, that there's this respect between the union and ownership that doesn't exist in other leagues. Our players have a voice. They have the ability to stand up for what they believe in.

I think they're great role models for that reason and that our sport is a sport that's beautiful and continues to evolve. It doesn't get stuck in itself. We have a commissioner that will look at things, you know, out of the box, look at things differently. And so I see us not only this great history that we have, but also what we're going to be able to accomplish in the future. You said your dad was stoic. What if I said, I think you're stoic? it's like the it's acting no but i really i really see it even when i go to a game and i see how you act in this persona it's such a professionalism filled with a genuine happiness for a team

that you are running and the fans i i you love and adore your fans and i think it's so obvious how when someone comes up to you you're you don't hesitate yeah you're so approachable which is frightening sometimes um and when you lose you're just elegant. You find a way to get up before the game's exactly over with maybe 30 seconds left if you're down by 10 or 15. And you just give some waves and you give a couple of hugs and you move on. And I have a feeling that around those corners, you know, that when no one can see you,

you might just say, fuck every once in a while. Would that be sort of true? I would say in my version of it would be to let out a big sigh. take a deep breath. You know what? I think we both could do that right now because this is the end of this interview. It's been wonderful. I really appreciate you allowing me to be inside of you today, Jeannie.

This has been, this is, this is, it's going to make me faint. Oh, my God. This has been a real treat. I've learned a lot. I didn't know a lot of this, and it really educated me. I hope when people listen, they'll just see sort of where you came from and how it all happened and it kind of jumbled up sort of fun way. I love you.

Thank you. I love you, too. Thank you. Michael Roswell. Bye, Gene. Bye. Hi, I'm Joe Sall-Chi. Host of the Stacking Benjamin's podcast.

Today, we're going to talk about what if you came across $50,000. What would you do? Put it into a tax-advantaged retirement account. The mortgage. That's what we do. payment on a home something nice buying a vehicle a separate bucket for this addition that we're at 50,000 dollars I'll buy a new podcast you'll buy new friends and we're done thanks for playing everybody we're out of here stacking benjamins follow and listen on your favorite platform