Jerry Buss, the owner of one of the most decorated NBA franchises in history, died Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Buss, who shepherded the Los Angeles Lakers to 10 championships from the Showtime dynasty of the 1980s to the generation of Kobe Bryant, died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to reports. He was 80.
Though Buss was hospitalized for treatment of cancer, his immediate cause of death was attributed to kidney failure, the AP reported.
The Lakers flourished under Buss, who lead the franchise to 10 titles between 1980 and 2010 and made the NBA finals 16 times under Buss' 32 years in charge, making him one of the the most accomplished club owners in sporting history, the article stated.
Buss referred to the Lakers' players as his extended family and was generally loved by all the team members, the AP reported.
He was renowned for his innovativeness as a franchise owner, pioneering business bold tactics that are now seen as standard in the industry. He was inducted into the Pro Basketball Hal of Fame in 2010.
Buss was known to be a playboy, rarely appearing in public without at least one younger, attractive woman on his arm, according to the AP.
In 1979 when Buss took over ownership of the Lakers, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings and their shared arena for $67.5 million dollars, it was the largest sports transaction in history at the time, the AP reported.
He owned the Kinds until 1987. He also owned Los Angeles franchises in Word Team Tennis and Major Indoor Soccer League, the report stated.
"One of the first things I tried to do when I bought the team was to make it an identification for this city, like Motown in Detroit,'' he told the Los Angeles Times in 2008, according to the AP. "I try to keep that identification alive. I'm a real Angeleno. I want us to be part of the community.''
Several of Buss' six children moved into leadership roles with the Lakers, with Jim Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president of player personnel taking over much of the primary decision making responsibilities in the last few years, according to the AP.
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