Jeanie Buss Recalls Talking To Father Jerry Buss About A Possible Global Pandemic
Lakers governor Jeanie Buss learned so much from her father, the late Jerry Buss, and during the COVID-19 pandemic she has posted memories and stories of him on Instagram.
On Father’s Day, she recalled how her father had an important conversation with former longtime NBA commissioner David Stern in which they talked about how a possible global pandemic would affect the league.
“I reflect on our conversations now more than ever,” Jeanie wrote on Instagram. “You told me that David Stern - always seeing the big picture - talked about the effects on our business if there was ever a global pandemic (SARS in 2009 was the closest threat). Well, Dad, he was right! We are in the middle of fighting COVID-19 and of course making our top priority to protect everyone and try to finish this season.”
The NBA was suspended March 11 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The season is scheduled to resume July 30 in Orlando, and the Lakers - who are in first place in the Western Conference - are searching for their first championship since 2010.
Jeanie also said she had many discussions with her father about racial equality, which she often thinks about as the country struggles with racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's murder by a white police officer on May 25 in Minneapolis.
“I remember all the conversations that we had about how all people deserved respect and equality,” Jeanie wrote. “I will always fight for those rights because it broke your heart to see people hurt each other and now it breaks mine too.”
Jeanie recently shared a hate letter she received from a man named Joe, in which he calls her a derogatory term and uses two racial epithets. She said she shared the letter so people could see that hates exists.
“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,” Jeanie wrote on Instagram.
Jeanie ended her Father's Day post on a light note, explaining why she included a photo of her and Jerry wearing jeans with the Lakers' logo on the back pocket.
“I chose this picture because we got such laughs wearing our Lakers jeans,” Jeanie wrote. “We have the same genes and jeans!”
