Top 33 Jeanie Buss Quotes

People didn’t even know where the Lakers’ training center was, because we didn’t have a flagpole to say, ‘This is our home.’ We were kind of hidden in the back of the L.A. Kings’ practice facility.

In my position, I can make changes. I can make changes across the entire organization. If John Ireland doesn’t do his job, in his radio broadcast play-by-play, then we would make that change. If the Laker Girls drop down in caliber and couldn’t do a dance number, then we’d make changes there.

There’s a whole other chapter of my life where I was, for 15 years, the significant other of coach Phil Jackson.

Any free agent that would be afraid to play with Kobe Bryant is probably a loser, and I’m glad they wouldn’t come to the team.

You can’t just live in the past, peddling the ’80s Showtime Lakers, and expect everyone to know what that is. We have many fans who weren’t even alive in the ’80s.

I have a great relationship with all my brothers. I’ve got three other ones. There’s four boys and two girls. It’s a family business.

One thing Dr. Buss asked me to do was to make sure the team continues to evolve and to put a new light on the team, and we’ve certainly tried to embrace that vision of his, evolving the brand while paying tribute to the past. That’s what Laker fans expect and what we try to deliver.

Dr. Buss set the bar high for the Lakers.

The Lakers have figured out how to win in every era.

I think people have to realize that – and basketball fans do, Lakers fans do – that we have to operate under the rules of the collective bargaining agreement, which means you can’t just go and grab every player that you want.

Phil is always a quotable guy. He keeps everyone entertained.

Any time you have a change of leadership in an organization, everything kind of shifts.

I took a stand-up comedy class because I’d always wanted to.

The Lakers have been part of the process of revitalizing downtown L.A. That’s what my dad’s passion was. He loved to win, but he loved this city. He wanted this city to be proud of its team.

I can’t compare myself to Phil Jackson in any way, shape or form. His view on the world and his intellectual approach, I don’t have that in common with him.

That’s what people don’t understand, that in the NBA these are the best 450 players in the world, in the game of basketball, are in the NBA.

Kobe is worth every penny, and I’d never had any doubt that he’d contribute to this team.

To have Kobe retire as a Laker, that to me is really important.

I had a tough year, losing my dad. And I really needed to have some quiet time, and not be engaged the way I normally would be with the Lakers.

I think it’s impossible to tell your coach and tell your players, ‘Try not to win.’ That goes against everything an organization is about.

I’ve always said that our fans are our most important asset.

I want people to know that I don’t take for granted what’s been given to me.

We understand the realities of the sports world. Take Shaq for example, he was traded from here and went on to several other teams after that. But once he was retired, he asked us to retire his jersey. He wanted to be remembered as a Laker.

I can’t tell you how many letters I get from grandmothers who say, ‘It’s the only thing I can talk to my 15-year-old grandson about.’ The Lakers are more than just a basketball team to this city. They’re part of this community.

Everybody will give you a certain amount of respect just because you’re the boss’ daughter. But if you don’t follow through, you lose that pretty quick.

I’m at the top of the food chain.

I have a lot of role models.

The teams that use tanking as a strategy are doing damage. If you’re in tanking mode, that means you’ve got young players who you’re teaching bad habits to. I think that’s unforgivable.

The team will always be bigger than any one owner, or any one player, or one coach. The team is always first.

I am here to say that there is no drawback to being a woman in business. But if you think it’s a drawback, then it probably does work against you. It’s like playing poker. People will look for your weak spot, and your weak spot is only what you allow it to be.

I don’t want to see Kobe Bryant ever leave. If he was 100 years old and still playing, I’d be happy.

The way my dad set things up was for me to oversee the business side and for my brother to oversee the basketball side. I know my dad felt that was a good system, and that’s the system we’re trying to make work.

But I don’t look forward to the day that Kobe Bryant’s not in purple and gold.