19 Feb 2013

Jerry Buss dies

12:17 pm on 19 February 2013

The Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss has died aged 80.

Buss bought the Lakers, along with the Los Angeles Kings ice hockey team and the Great Western Forum in 1979 for $80 million. The Lakers are now estimated to be worth $1.2 billion.

Buss was credited with bringing showtime to the Lakers when he picked up Magic Johnson in 1980, the year he won the first of his 10 NBA Championships.

Buss had been hospitalised recently for treatment of cancer.

His 1980s team included Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, while his team of the early 2000's was even more dominant when they won three in a row with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal at the helm.