Landon Buford
Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss did not participate in the HBO series ‘Winning Time’ because she partnered with Hulu to tell the Los Angeles Lakers story.
However, according to her, someone sent her a clip from Winning Time that shows John C. Reilly, who plays Dr. Buss in the series, and Quincy Isaiah, who plays Magic Johnson in the series, talking about wanting to build something special with the Lakers. Jeanie Buss acknowledged that the scene was accurate.
“It’s clear my thoughts on this show. To see the real story watch the Lakers docuseries coming to Hulu later this year. Meanwhile, someone sent me this clip and asked if it was accurate – it is. When a star player and owner align winning happens,” Jeanie Buss tweeted.
Speaking of Reilly, he recalled a time that he ran into Jeanie Buss at a Lakers game.
“I went to a Lakers game and was in the lounge waiting for the game to start, and she came up to me and said, ‘Hi, I’m Jeanie Buss.’ I was like, Whoa. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be thrown out of the building or what. She said, Listen, the team’s not participating in the show, so I’m not here to say anything good or bad about it. But I wanted to tell you something personal: My dad knew who you were. He loved musicals, and he saw you in Chicago and really loved your performance as Mister Cellophane. He said, ‘See that actor? That’s someone that can make you laugh and make you cry. That’s the mark of a great actor.”
Buss also recently went on the record to share that she wasn’t happy with having the 4th highest payroll in the NBA, and it hadn’t resulted in a deep playoff run.
“I’m growing impatient just because we had the fourth-highest payroll in the league. … When you spend that kind of money on the luxury tax, you expect to go deep into the playoffs,” she told The Times. “So, yeah, it was gut-wrenching for me to go out on a limb like that and not get the results that we were looking for. … I’m not happy, I’m not satisfied.”
“We don’t like to be missing the playoffs, I understand the fans anger and frustration,” she said. “I’ve got to make it better.”
The Los Angeles Lakers finished the 2021-22 season 11th in the Western Conference with a 33-49 record and missed the play-in tournament completely. Last season, they finished 7th and lost in the first round against the Phoenix Suns after they lost Anthony Davis to injury. Just two seasons removed from winning the franchise’s 17th NBA Championship.
There have been a lot of fans lobbying for the Buss family should sell the team, but Jeanie Buss revealed that she isn’t going anywhere.
“In terms of selling the team, I’m not going anywhere. This is exactly what my dad asked me to do. The team is not for sale,” she shared.
“This was something that was important to him, that he wanted me to keep the Lakers in the family. I like to say, my dad had his children, but the Lakers were his baby, and he put me in charge of the baby, and I will make sure that the baby thrives.”
