Jim Buss

James Hatten Buss (born November 9, 1959) is a part-owner and former executive vice president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He is the son of former Lakers owner Jerry Buss.

Their parents divorced in 1972.

Buss attended college at University of Southern California (USC), majoring in math before he dropped out.

He spent much of his youth at race tracks.

Although he stood 6 ft, Buss attended jockey school when he was 20.

Shortly after, he invited his son to join the Lakers, a basketball team he acquired in 1979 and built into one of the most lucrative and popular franchises in all of sports.

Buss invested in a small business with his best friend, but the friend died in a car accident in 1981.

The death left Buss devastated and lost, and the business was left to fade.

Buss was president of the Los Angeles Lazers professional indoor soccer team from 1985–1989.

In 1985, Buss became president of his father's indoor soccer team, the Los Angeles Lazers, after his brother Johnny had quit.

Buss brought annual losses down from $1 million to $500,000, but the team folded in 1989.

He next became a horse trainer, receiving from his father the half-dozen thoroughbreds he owned.

In 1997, Jerry divested himself of his horse racing stock that was increasingly unprofitable.

He later trained thoroughbred race horses for nine years before joining the Lakers in 1998 as an assistant general manager.

Buss started with the Lakers in 1998 as an apprentice to general manager Jerry West and his assistant, Mitch Kupchak.

During an interview with Sports Illustrated for its November 1998 issue, Jim shared his thoughts on scouting, saying: "Evaluating basketball talent is not too difficult. If you grabbed 10 fans out of a bar and asked them to rate prospects, their opinions would be pretty much identical to those of the pro scouts."

He later said he was trying to compliment Lakers scouts, who faced a challenge with the team usually picking late in the NBA draft compared to the consensus he believed existed with lottery picks, but the quote became controversial nevertheless.

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.

After the Lakers lost in the 2004 NBA Finals, Buss decided that the Lakers would sign Rudy Tomjanovich to replace the outgoing Phil Jackson.

That summer, Tomjanovich was signed to a five-year, $30 million contract.

Tomjanovich resigned after a half season, citing mental and physical exhaustion.

The Lakers paid him a $10 million settlement, leading to speculation that the Lakers had instead terminated his contract.

He was promoted to vice president of basketball operations in 2005.

In 2005, Buss was promoted to vice president of player personnel.

His father's plan was to have Buss handle the basketball decisions for the team, while his sister Jeanie, the vice president of business operations, handled the business side of the Lakers.

In the 2005 draft, Buss was a key proponent of selecting 17-year-old high-school center Andrew Bynum, a decision his father needed to approve.

Buss said, "I just absolutely fell in love with [Bynum] in five minutes [watching his workout]."

He was also involved in rehiring Jackson as Lakers coach.

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".

Buss stuck with Bynum as he struggled with immaturity and injuries, and he withstood demands from Bryant that Bynum be traded.

After Jackson retired in 2011, Buss told coaching candidates Brian Shaw and Mike Brown that Bynum needed to receive the ball inside.

Shaw was passed over as Jackson's replacement although the Lakers assistant was openly supported by players.

Buss instead hired Brown without consulting their star player, Kobe Bryant.

He later said it was a mistake to not involve Bryant.

Shaw was not bitter that the Lakers went with Brown, but he was disappointed that after 12 years of service, they did not contact him until three weeks after their decision.

The well-respected Shaw atypically criticized Buss in a radio interview over his treatment during the hiring cycle.

After his father Jerry died in 2013, his controlling ownership of the Lakers passed to his children via a family trust, with each child receiving an equal interest.

Buss was born the second of four children to Jo Ann and Jerry Buss.

He grew up with older brother Johnny and sisters Jeanie and Janie.