All in the Family

[Champ 17 <celticky33@yahoo.com>]

Zen Airhead just sold his soul...

Copied from the Philippine Star

Sporting Chance - By Joaquin M. Henson


Phil protects future
Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson is building a Lakers
dynasty in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
And his role seems to be getting bigger in the
process.

Jackson, 54, is entering the second season of a $30
Million, five-year deal. No doubt, Shaquille O'Neal,
28, and Kobe Bryant, 21, are the cornerstones of the
Lakers franchise. But Jackson wants to make sure he's
not forgotten when the chips are cashed in -- he's not
about to get overshadowed by the stars on his team.

So he did the best thing to protect his future. During
the recent NBA Finals, Jackson announced he's
divorcing his wife June, the mother of four of his
five children, and taking up with his boss' daughter
Jeanie Buss.

Jackson's disclosure took fans by surprise. June was
known as his soulmate and inspiration since they began
living together after traveling around the US
northwest on a motorcycle one summer in the 1970s.
Jackson dedicated his 1995 book "Sacred Hoops" to June
whom he often referred to as the stabilizing influence
in his life.

Jackson, the son of Pentecostal ministers, was first
married to Maxine, a political science major and a
student leader, when he was a University of North
Dakota senior in 1967. She gave birth to his first
child, Elizabeth. They divorced in 1972 because
Jackson said, "I wasn't ready to commit myself to
family life." Maxine felt isolated and unfilled being
an NBA widow, explained Jackson who was then playing
for the New York Knicks.

It wasn't long after the divorce that June moved into
Jackson's loft above an auto repair shop in the
Chelsea district of Manhattan. No wonder their first
child was named Chelsea. Their other children are
Brooke and twin sons Ben and Charley.


* * *
Jerry Buss, a self-made real estate mogul, bought the
Lakers in 1979. He came from humble beginnings. His
father Lydus was an accountant and his mother was a
waitress. An only child, Jerry was only a baby when
his father abandoned his family in the rut of the
Great Depression. He was 12 when his mother remarried
a plumber.

Jerry was blessed with a brilliant mind. He earned a
doctorate in chemistry at the University of Southern
California and after a brief career in the aerospace
industry, used his scientific training to venture into
real estate. From the millions he earned in real
estate deals, Jerry built a sports empire.

It was Jerry who started the practice of selling the
identity rights of sports stadiums to sponsors. In
1988, the Forum became the Great Western Forum after
he negotiated a major advertising agreement with the
Great Western Bank. Today, several NBA arenas are
sponsored by big companies such as the Staples Center
of Los Angeles, Conseco Fieldhouse of Indiana, America
West Arena of Phoenix, Air Canada Center of Toronto,
MCI Center of Washington, and Compaq Center of
Houston.

Jerry spearheaded the Lakers' transfer to the $375
Million Staples Center last year and sold 25 percent
of the franchise to Fox Sports -- a deal that meant a
windfall of at least $50 Million. It's estimated that
the Lakers bring in about $100 Million in revenues
every year so the Buss coffers are never short of
cash.


* * *
Jackson's love interest happens to be the Lakers'
Executive Vice President of Business Operations. What
a choice. John McEnroe was her steady date for six
months in the mid-1990s and she was once married to
former US Olympic volleyball star Steve Timmons.
Jeanie is such a maverick -- like Jackson ("Maverick,"
in fact, was the title of his first book) -- that she
bared her assets in a six-page spread in the May 1995
issue of Playboy. Jerry, a confessed hedonist, said
his daughter "looked absolutely stunning."

Jeanie was only seven when her parents divorced. But
she was never far from her father's reach. She
finished at her father's alma mater and became
increasingly involved in his sports interests.

The eldest of the four Buss children is Johnny who
heads the Women's National Basketball Association team
Los Angeles Sparks. Then there's Jimmy, the Lakers
assistant general manager. Jeanie, 39, comes next and
the youngest is Janie, the Lakers' head of community
relations.

"Of all my kids, Jeanie's the one who turned out most
like me," said Jerry. Even NBA Commissioner David
Stern acknowledged her smarts -- she is the Lakers
alternate Governor in the league Board. "Jeanie has a
complete knowledge of the interplay of sports
marketing, building management and TV," noted Stern.
"If she took over the Lakers from her father, I don't
think anything would be lost in the transition."


* * *
Who will succeed the Buss patriarch on the family
throne is an unresolved issue that's causing a severe
strain in the siblings' relationship. Johnny, the
eldest, hardly speaks to Jimmy or Jeanie because he
knows he isn't next in line.

Janie said her sister is the logical heir. "Only
Jeanie has the brains and the desire," insisted Janie,
an overweight homebody who is married with two
children. "My brothers would love to run my father's
operation but I don't think they could. Jeanie's a
great negotiator and a great numbers cruncher and she
knows how to say no. I think my dad's testing us to
see if we can get along. He's getting us used to the
fact that he won't be around forever and he's watching
each of us to figure out who should do what."

Jackson has made his choice as to which Buss will lead
the Lakers' empire into the future. 

 
 
 
    
  
 
 


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