Tag: Jeanie Buss

For Jeanie Buss, the threat has never …

Lakers owner Jeanie Buss shares despicable letter she received from fan to expose ongoing racism

“We all must do better.”

Los Angeles Lakers owner and president Jeanie Buss shared a racist letter she received from a fan on Friday, Juneteenth, to shine a light on the hate and racism that exists in society.

The short letter, from a fan named Joe, is gutting to read, and Buss wrote on Instagram that she has received similar letters in the past that she was advised to ignore. Buss asks that her white friends “join together… and pledge to stop ignoring” racism.

“After much thought, I decided to share this letter I received on Monday so that everyone can see the hate is real and living out there. This is happening in our world TODAY. Its real and it exists.

…. I have received letters like this over the years. The advice I always got? “Ignore it.” I did. But not anymore.
On this day, Juneteenth, I ask my white friends to join together, acknowledge the racism that exists in our country and around the world, and pledge to stop ignoring it. We all must do better.”

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After much thought, I decided to share this letter I received on Monday so that everyone can see the hate is real and living out there. This is happening in our world TODAY. Its real and it exists. To Joe: Did sending this letter make you feel better?  Really all you did was waste your time, and energy and your postage stamp. (But thank you for including your return home address) Why don’t you look in the mirror and see your ugliness because I refuse to. I have received letters like this over the years. The advice I always got? “Ignore it.” I did. But not anymore. On this day, Juneteenth, I ask my white friends to join together, acknowledge the racism that exists in our country and around the world, and pledge to stop ignoring it. We all must do better. #juneteenth #hatewontwin

A post shared by Jeanie Buss (@jeaniebuss) on

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There’s this financial bonus now, too: …

There’s this financial bonus now, too: Sources say the eight regular season games being played will all count toward each team’s regional sports network television deals as well. For teams that have the most lucrative arrangements, such as the Lakers, this is a very big deal. To wit: Sources say the Lakers pull in approximately $1.5 million per game from their RSN deal with Spectrum SportsNet, meaning they’ll recoup $12 million from those games in all while losing an estimated $8 million because the schedule won’t be completed. As I wrote in March of 2019, the first round is a bigger money-maker for teams than the last three rounds because teams still hold local television and radio rights before yielding in the second round. For league-wide perspective, one of the lower-end RSN deals that I’ve heard of pays approximately $200,000 per game.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel and general …

Lakers coach Frank Vogel and general manager Rob Pelinka also spoke on the call Tuesday. Team owner Jeanie Buss and Tim Harris, the president of business operations and chief operating officer, were part of the virtual conference as well. The meeting when for about an hour. “The Lakers did a great job letting their players have a voice,” one person said. “The Lakers understand what’s happening. They have always been about helping their community and that hasn’t stopped even now when the Lakers and others sports teams are needed the most.”

He proposed a photo that would have her …

He proposed a photo that would have her looking like a pin-up in the style of a mermaid, and Buss was on board. “It was kind of like I was like a mermaid underwater with a blue backdrop,” Buss said. “They used to show mermaids holding pearls … and so instead of the pearls I got basketballs. And I’m not naked but I might look like I’m naked. I get people [who say], ‘How dare you put a naked picture of you on Twitter. It was in Playboy.’ And it’s not. It was from Sports Illustrated! “Yes, do I have to talk about the Playboy and the decision [to pose]. Yes, I’m still explaining it 20 years later. They want to judge and put me in a category.”

A bit later, she expounded on other …

A bit later, she expounded on other ways she felt Johnson contributed to the Lakers’ current success: “Using the word culture didn’t have clarity to me until Magic came. It’s like everybody knew ‘okay, the hammer is coming down, we’re serious, we’re about winning, we’re going to get back to winning,’ and how not only from the basketball side, but from every side of the organization, everybody sat up a little bit… It’s like ‘we’re here to do something, now this is what we’re committed to.’

Charley Rosen, Jackson’s …

Charley Rosen, Jackson’s confidant/biographer and his former Albany Patroons assistant, has appeared in two episodes. He’s still worried Jackson’s failed 3 ½-year run as Knicks president has hurt his perception in New York. Rosen said Jackson should never have come out of retirement and taken the position in March 2014. “I told him not to take it because it’s crazy there,’’ Rosen said. “Jeanie [Buss] told him not to take it. If he came there, it would end their relationship 3,000 miles away.”

The Los Angeles Lakers have returned …

The Los Angeles Lakers have returned approximately $4.6 million that they received from a federal government program intended to help small businesses weather the economic burden caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the team said in a statement to ESPN on Monday. The Lakers, one of the NBA’s most profitable franchises, applied for relief through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, and were among the companies and nonprofits granted loans during the first round of distributions. But after reports that several large or highly capitalized entities were securing aid from the program’s initial $349 billion pool — while hundreds of thousands of smaller businesses were shut out — the Lakers said they returned the money. “The Lakers qualified for and received a loan under the Payroll Protection Program,” the Lakers said in a statement to ESPN. “Once we found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need. The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and our community.”

Bill Oram: Upon Kobe Bryant’s …