Speaker 1: Sorry, I'm latey.
Speaker 2: Someone died on a bus I was on.
Speaker 1: I had to wait for a new bus.
Speaker 2: It's a horrific story.
Speaker 1: But welcome to the team.
Speaker 2: Anyway. We are going to give the rest of the
Speaker 2: season everything we got and make a deep playoff run.
Speaker 3: We're the Waves. We don't do rebuilding years.
Speaker 2: Marcus mess you in my office yesterday. I'd like to
Speaker 2: do weekly one on one check ins.
Speaker 3: Does that work?
Speaker 1: Oh? Rachould have told you about?
Speaker 2: Oh how you like to conserve your energy? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I don't give a shit. Talk too soon everyone. I
Speaker 3: have a great practice. The wives haha, you said, are
Speaker 3: right there. Welcome back right here to the Steven A.
Speaker 3: Smith Show. My guest is at the helm of one
Speaker 3: of the most storied franchises.
Speaker 1: In NBA history.
Speaker 3: She's been here before, and she's back to talk about
Speaker 3: a new Netflix comedy series called Running Point, which permitted yesterday.
Speaker 1: She's an executive producer.
Speaker 3: On the project, and she is the real life inspiration
Speaker 3: for the lead character played by Kate Hudson.
Speaker 1: Please welcome Los Angeles.
Speaker 3: Lake is controlling owner and partner the president herself, the
Speaker 3: one and only Genie Buss.
Speaker 1: Back here at the Stephen Asmith Show. Hey Jennie, how
Speaker 1: are you.
Speaker 2: I'm doing great? How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm doing wonderful. It is always great to see you.
Speaker 3: Let's get started with this Netflix series running points loosely
Speaker 3: based on your family. Why did you want? And it's
Speaker 3: justly based on you, actually, why did you want to
Speaker 3: do this?
Speaker 1: Genie?
Speaker 2: I am a big fan of comedy because I believe
Speaker 2: comedy helps people cope with stress, helps diffuse tense situations.
Speaker 2: And I use humor a lot in this business because
Speaker 2: sometimes you just have to laugh or else she'll lose
Speaker 2: your mind. So I'm a big fan of comedy. We
Speaker 2: were able to pit the idea to Mindy Kayling, who
Speaker 2: is you know, at the executive producer, creator and has
Speaker 2: created many hit shows, and she liked the idea, and
Speaker 2: we spent you know a lot of time together and
Speaker 2: telling her stories, and they took all that information and
Speaker 2: created this, you know world that isn't the Lakers. This
Speaker 2: is completely creative, you know, by the writers. It's not
Speaker 2: my family, but it is inspired by a person in
Speaker 2: a position like mine, and I think they've done a
Speaker 2: fantastic job creating the characters, allowing you to get the
Speaker 2: inside of what goes on behind the scenes at a
Speaker 2: sports team that so many people ask me about with
Speaker 2: a sense of humor. Are the people are very relatable.
Speaker 2: As I've learned in this country, the family businesses are
Speaker 2: the most common businesses. So we all had that experience
Speaker 2: of working with our family and sometimes you step on
Speaker 2: each other's toes, but at the end of the day,
Speaker 2: your family and you come together to do what's right
Speaker 2: for your business, for what's right for your team. And
Speaker 2: I think people will be very entertained by it. It's
Speaker 2: the actually today it is the number one show on Netflix.
Speaker 3: Well I'm not surprised by that. It's associated with you
Speaker 3: and you're a winness, so that's the way that this works.
Speaker 1: But how close is.
Speaker 3: This storyline to you to your real life?
Speaker 1: In your estimation?
Speaker 2: How close is it's there's some you know, a few
Speaker 2: true things that people will definitely pick up on, and
Speaker 2: then then there's a lot of creative license that the
Speaker 2: writers took that just you know, kind of in their mind,
Speaker 2: you know, decided this would be interesting if this happened,
Speaker 2: and you know, we would give them feedback, well that
Speaker 2: would never happen, or yeah, that has happened, and give
Speaker 2: them an example in you know, history and professional sports.
Speaker 2: You know, this is a very dramatic business and people
Speaker 2: can't believe some of the things that actually have happened
Speaker 2: and you know, continue to happen. And I think that's
Speaker 2: what's going to be entertaining about it. But you know,
Speaker 2: Kate Hudson as the title character, really nails the performance.
Speaker 2: She's somebody that I've known since she was a teenager
Speaker 2: and she used to come to the Great Western Forum
Speaker 2: and watch the La Kings play with her her mom
Speaker 2: and dad, and you know, she really she gets the
Speaker 2: character and she's fantastic. She's she's a movie star that
Speaker 2: we were able to convince to come in and h
Speaker 2: you know, be part of this exciting project.
Speaker 3: Did you hand pick her? Did you play a role
Speaker 3: in hand picking her? And was this some competition for
Speaker 3: her and ultimately getting this role or was it just
Speaker 3: a situation where you just looked at it you knew
Speaker 3: you automatically knew she's the one.
Speaker 2: You know, I suggested her to Mindy, and Mindy you know,
Speaker 2: kind of set the expectation that Kate had never done
Speaker 2: a you know, a series like this in her career,
Speaker 2: and she's known as movie star, But now we see
Speaker 2: how much crossover there is. You know, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon,
Speaker 2: you know movie stars doing television, and she just nails
Speaker 2: this part. I couldn't be more proud, and it's a
Speaker 2: lot of fun to work with her after knowing her
Speaker 2: all these years.
Speaker 3: Genie Buss, what is life like for you right now?
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm looking at the Los Angeles Lakers, and
Speaker 3: I went from wondering whether or not they were gonna
Speaker 3: make the playoffs to wondering whether or not you know
Speaker 3: what they were going to do in the playoffs?
Speaker 1: Do y'all acquiring Luka Doncik to.
Speaker 3: Being convinced that you aren't gonna be good enough to
Speaker 3: really go deep into the playoffs, but obviously a block
Speaker 3: bus to trade like that, essentially sending Anthony Davis away,
Speaker 3: the great Anthony Davis away for the great Luka doncic
Speaker 3: to looking at the Los Angeles Lakers this morning while
Speaker 3: I'm talking to you about your Netflix series, and in
Speaker 3: the same breadth that that's number one, I'm looking at
Speaker 3: a basketball team that might end up number.
Speaker 1: One, because the Los Angeles Lakers have a.
Speaker 3: Chance to win it all as far as I'm concerned
Speaker 3: based on what I'm seeing.
Speaker 1: What is life like this afternoon for Janie Bus It's.
Speaker 2: Pretty good in my world? What can I say? You know,
Speaker 2: I want to make it clear that you know, when
Speaker 2: you make a trade like that, especially in the middle
Speaker 2: of a season, you know, you have to weigh so
Speaker 2: many different, uh things that are going on. You know,
Speaker 2: we have a rookie coach in JJ Reddick who has
Speaker 2: shown a lot of promise and you know, you you
Speaker 2: are concerned if you make a change that it's going
Speaker 2: to disrupt what the coaches have been trying to teach.
Speaker 2: And uh, you know, we we waited very carefully. We
Speaker 2: were not looking to trade Anthony Davis, but when the
Speaker 2: opportunity came up, we we had to look at the overall,
Speaker 2: you know, long term vision of the team and what
Speaker 2: we were trying to accomplish, and you know, we had
Speaker 2: to make the tough decision to trade Anthony. And he's
Speaker 2: been fantastic. He helped us win a ring. But in
Speaker 2: receiving Luca, we have a player who has ignited our
Speaker 2: fan base. You know, he he came to town and
Speaker 2: you know, he had to process what had just happened,
Speaker 2: like he had no idea he was going to be traded,
Speaker 2: and but he he came to La and he saw
Speaker 2: what had happened with the devastating wildfires, and he immediately
Speaker 2: donated money to you know, the you know, the cause
Speaker 2: of trying to rebuild it and and help you know,
Speaker 2: people cope with losing what they've lost. And he's just
Speaker 2: he's he's just been great. It's kind of a love
Speaker 2: affair with the fans right now. The energy is at
Speaker 2: Crypto dot Com arena is it's like it seems like
Speaker 2: a playoff game, and you know, as he gets integrated
Speaker 2: into what JJ and the coaching staff wanted him to do.
Speaker 2: I think the win in Denver last weekend was you know,
Speaker 2: phenomenal and really inspiring, considering Denver has been the team
Speaker 2: that has put us out of the playoffs the last
Speaker 2: few years. So it's really ignited a lot of.
Speaker 1: Hope, Geenie.
Speaker 3: Everybody wants to know what the secret sources, what the
Speaker 3: secret source the success is because looking at the Los
Speaker 3: Angeles Lakers franchise, I mean, my Lord Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem
Speaker 3: Abdul Jabbar, Shack, Magic, Johnson Worthy, you know, ultimately Kobe Bryant.
Speaker 1: Of course, you know the power gersuls.
Speaker 3: Of the world, and and and you know the Lebron
Speaker 3: James and now you know Anthony Davis, of course, and
Speaker 3: now Luka Dancik.
Speaker 1: If you're a star.
Speaker 3: In professional basketball, it almost seems destined and ordained that
Speaker 3: you are going to be a Los Angeles Laker. First
Speaker 3: it was with your late great father, magnificent, magnificent man.
Speaker 1: Everybody loved Doctor Buss to you. Now out, I mean,
Speaker 1: how do you do it? I mean, what do you say?
Speaker 3: What is the allure in your in your eyes about
Speaker 3: the purple and gold and lake a nation in the
Speaker 3: Los Angeles Lakers.
Speaker 1: How does this keep happening for y'all?
Speaker 2: You know it is It's exactly what my dad taught me.
Speaker 2: This was how you run a franchise. Getting Lebron to
Speaker 2: join us as a free agent was one of the
Speaker 2: first moves to show that we were serious about, you know,
Speaker 2: getting back on track after missing the playoffs for six years.
Speaker 2: But the power of the brand, the platform, the fan base,
Speaker 2: the city in which we play, it all adds up.
Speaker 2: And you know, as Doctor Buss taught me, you keep
Speaker 2: us near the top or at the top or near
Speaker 2: the top and that's what we've done and we will
Speaker 2: continue to work hard to do. Certainly, I think we've
Speaker 2: identified a coach who has you know, knows the NBA,
Speaker 2: knows how to make a strategic plan, and that someone
Speaker 2: who connects really well with his players. So, you know,
Speaker 2: I think that gives us the foundation and we continue
Speaker 2: to build and Rob Polinka has done an amazing job
Speaker 2: identifying players that have that kind of competitive instinct, that
Speaker 2: that desire to win, and you know, we you know,
Speaker 2: continue to build the roster that way and everything comes together.
Speaker 2: And certainly I have to thank Laker fans for you know,
Speaker 2: there they are creating a uh an environment that visiting
Speaker 2: teams are not going to be comfortable coming to play
Speaker 2: the Lakers at home, and you need that kind of
Speaker 2: uh you know, that intimidation of the visiting team, especially
Speaker 2: during the playoffs.
Speaker 3: You have a guy that I considered to be a
Speaker 3: top candidate for Coach of the Year honors, and JJ
Speaker 3: Reddick my buddy.
Speaker 1: They worked with me at ESPN. He did a phenomenal
Speaker 1: job when he was working with us. He's doing a
Speaker 1: phenomenal job with you now.
Speaker 3: Rob Perlinker, Kobe's former agent turned executive for the Los
Speaker 3: Angeles Lakers. As this GM, I think he's a candidate
Speaker 3: for Executive of the Year.
Speaker 1: You hired them both, you gave the approval of both.
Speaker 3: But one of the things that folks were talking about
Speaker 3: was this whole Anthony Davis Luca.
Speaker 1: Dantis trade was a secret.
Speaker 3: It was kept from Lebron, it was kept from Clutch
Speaker 3: Sports and stuff like that. They had no knowledge. It
Speaker 3: was a shock to everybody. First of all, was that true?
Speaker 3: And secondly, if that is how it happened, how were
Speaker 3: you able to pull that off?
Speaker 2: You know, it wasn't that we were trying to keep
Speaker 2: it from anyone specific. It was just about keeping a
Speaker 2: lid on something that had a trade not worked out.
Speaker 2: Then it sends repercussions around the team. And as I said,
Speaker 2: we have a rookie coach that we want to try
Speaker 2: to make things as smooth as possible, so trying to
Speaker 2: you know, the trade talks were over a few weeks.
Speaker 2: There was a lot of details that had to go into,
Speaker 2: you know, the trade, and we had to create space
Speaker 2: by bringing in another team and trading a player there
Speaker 2: that could take on salary. So it was very complicated.
Speaker 2: We were not trying to leave anybody out. What we
Speaker 2: were trying to do was protect the team and allow
Speaker 2: our coach and coaching staff to have the least amount
Speaker 2: of distractions in a business where all there is our distractions,
Speaker 2: people trying to get you off your name.
Speaker 3: But Jennie, were you concerned at all at any point
Speaker 3: as to how this would negatively affect Lebron James simply
Speaker 3: because of Anthony Davis's greatness along with his relationship with
Speaker 3: Anthony Davis, because he had a lot to do with
Speaker 3: Anthony Davis ultimately landing in LA years ago, were you
Speaker 3: concerned about that at all?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, of course there is a lot of concerns,
Speaker 2: especially doing it during the season, you know, but I
Speaker 2: think back to when Doctor Buss traded Shaquille O'Neill. That
Speaker 2: did happen in the off season. But you know, because
Speaker 2: you know, you have to weigh everything, including how the
Speaker 2: fans are going to react to losing somebody like Anthony Davis,
Speaker 2: who was you know, we were building the team around.
Speaker 2: He was our foundation. He brought us the championship, and
Speaker 2: you know, how are they going to react? So you
Speaker 2: have to weigh all of those considerations, and at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, we did what was you know,
Speaker 2: what we felt for our team was the best, and
Speaker 2: they obviously agreed with what they received and that you know,
Speaker 2: we had. And when people say, well, they only talk
Speaker 2: to you, or they only talked to a couple teams,
Speaker 2: you know, we had the piece that they wanted. They
Speaker 2: wanted Anthony Davis, so that's why they weren't shopping it around.
Speaker 2: They saw what they wanted and they came after it,
Speaker 2: and we had to get through that decision process because
Speaker 2: we hadn't even considered that before.
Speaker 3: Right, wrong, fair or unfair. Some of the things that
Speaker 3: have been said in the media prior to this trade,
Speaker 3: whether you look at Lebron being the figure that he is,
Speaker 3: Bronnie James being on the team, the whole opening season
Speaker 3: celebration and stuff like that, they would say that Lebron
Speaker 3: James is running the Los Angeles Lakers. Once the trade happened,
Speaker 3: they said, that's Genie Bus's way of showing there's one
Speaker 3: person running this organization, and that's Genie. Those who've said
Speaker 3: such things like that, you say.
Speaker 2: What I say, you can interpret it anyway you want.
Speaker 2: At the end of the day, I'm the governor of
Speaker 2: the team, which means I'm ultimately responsible for all basketball
Speaker 2: and business decisions for this team. And so, you know,
Speaker 2: however you want to read that, you people can, but
Speaker 2: we are very much, you know, always in communication with
Speaker 2: our captains of the team. But in this circumstance, you know,
Speaker 2: A d was one of the captains, so we you know,
Speaker 2: we couldn't. There were just there was no way that
Speaker 2: we could disrupt what, you know, because the team was
Speaker 2: really starting to gel the way JJ has been coaching them,
Speaker 2: and we really didn't want to disrupt that if this
Speaker 2: wasn't going to be something that happened.
Speaker 3: Last question on this particular subject. You know, when it
Speaker 3: comes to a guy like Brian James, I like that kid.
Speaker 3: I think he's got tremendous promise. I think that he's
Speaker 3: gonna end up in the NBA, you know, somewhere in
Speaker 3: the near future. I love what I've seen him doing
Speaker 3: in the G League. I root for him. Everybody says
Speaker 3: he's a great kid. I haven't seen one individual that
Speaker 3: roots against him as far as I concerned. There's almost
Speaker 3: it almost comes across in a human the root against
Speaker 3: this kid because he just seems to be that absolutely
Speaker 3: positively wonderful. Nevertheless, Lebron's gonna get critique because his son
Speaker 3: was in the league before he was ready. Per se,
Speaker 3: When somebody asked Genie Buss about Brinnie James, because I
Speaker 3: know I'm not the first to do, so, what is
Speaker 3: it that you say and what kind of message do
Speaker 3: you want to send to the basketball world about Bronnie
Speaker 3: James being a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, all
Speaker 3: being in some folks eyes prematurely.
Speaker 2: He's been fantastic to work with. He's a draw in
Speaker 2: for our G League team. He's been going up and
Speaker 2: down between the two teams, and he does everything that
Speaker 2: we asked him to do in terms of the community,
Speaker 2: meeting with sponsors. He's just been He's fantastic. I wish
Speaker 2: I had a complete team of players with his work ethic,
Speaker 2: his attitude, his ability to see the game. You know,
Speaker 2: I know what it's like to be the child of
Speaker 2: a very successful man, and he's had to deal with
Speaker 2: a lot growing up and he'll continue to do so
Speaker 2: with grace. And you know, he's fun to watch.
Speaker 3: JJ Reddick back to him speak to his impact on
Speaker 3: an organization since you hired him last summer because I
Speaker 3: knew he was going to be good, you know, working
Speaker 3: with him on television, seeing him dissect and analyze basketball
Speaker 3: the way that few can, I knew that he was
Speaker 3: going to be good.
Speaker 1: I didn't expect.
Speaker 3: I expected you guys to elevate offensively, especially once you
Speaker 3: got Luka Doncic.
Speaker 1: What I did not.
Speaker 3: Expect is that over the last six plus weeks you'd
Speaker 3: be the number one defense in the entire NBA. I
Speaker 3: almost thinked when I think about that. I know he's
Speaker 3: got a great staff and Nate McMillan, Scott Brooks and
Speaker 3: the rest of the crew, but speak to the impact
Speaker 3: that JJ Reddick has had on the organization.
Speaker 2: He comes in with a confidence, a swagger that you
Speaker 2: know is inspiring. He's a natural leader. He's a great communicator.
Speaker 2: He's a problem solver, and that's one of the things
Speaker 2: that that is important in coaching in the NBA. So
Speaker 2: many things come at you quickly that you have to
Speaker 2: be able to make decisions, stand by your decision. If
Speaker 2: things aren't working out, you know, be okay to move
Speaker 2: away from that decision. But look, he surrounded himself, like
Speaker 2: you said, with an excellent staff in Scottie Brooks, and
Speaker 2: Nate McMillan and the very first female that we've ever
Speaker 2: had on the coaching staff in Lindsay Harding, who as
Speaker 2: coach of the Year in the G League last year. Uh.
Speaker 2: And so you know, he's he's he's inspired not only
Speaker 2: the team out on the court, but also the team
Speaker 2: here in our business operation. Uh. There's something about JJ
Speaker 2: that's professional and and calm and cool and collected. And
Speaker 2: he's he's paid dividends. And you know, I didn't think
Speaker 2: he'd be as as good as he is, but he
Speaker 2: certainly has shown it. And we continue to give him
Speaker 2: the resources that he needs, you know, to to You know,
Speaker 2: he wants to win, and that's what we want to do,
Speaker 2: and no question make it possible for him. However, we can.
Speaker 3: That brother is not going to be comfortable with mediocrity
Speaker 3: or losing. I can assure you that you don't have
Speaker 3: to worry. You don't have to worry about that at all.
Speaker 3: Before I get to my last question about you, just
Speaker 3: as an aside, a strange question, how are you feeling
Speaker 3: about having the crypto dot com a rena to yourself
Speaker 3: and not having the.
Speaker 1: Share with the Los Angeles Clippers anymore? About that, you
Speaker 1: know it.
Speaker 2: I thought we'd have like more dates, you know, less
Speaker 2: back to bags. But you know that building is so
Speaker 2: busy with the Grammy Awards and all the concerts that
Speaker 2: they do. It's it's still just as busy. So they
Speaker 2: they've replaced you know, those games that the Clippers played
Speaker 2: with other events. And I've been to the Into It Dome.
Speaker 2: I haven't seen a basketball game there yet. I went
Speaker 2: to the Bruno Mars concert. It's beautiful building. It's in
Speaker 2: our old neighborhood, Inglewood, you know, so it's great to
Speaker 2: see Inglewood with getting another team, so you know, it's
Speaker 2: been it's been great for both both of us.
Speaker 3: My last question would be to you because as you
Speaker 3: sit here now, as you said it, Board of Governor,
Speaker 3: you're responsible for all business and basketball decisions for the
Speaker 3: Los Angeles Lakers franchise. To see now that you have
Speaker 3: a generational, iconic basketball brand and your stable pretty much
Speaker 3: for the next decade. I mean, a brother's only twenty
Speaker 3: five years old in Luka Doncic.
Speaker 1: You see what Lebron James is doing.
Speaker 3: The success of the Los Angeles Lake is clearly you're
Speaker 3: going to be in the picture. You're going to be
Speaker 3: relevant for the foreseeable future. You're doing this in what
Speaker 3: was once deemed at the very least as a man's game.
Speaker 3: Clearly that is not the case anymore, primarily because of you.
Speaker 3: And so when you look at Running Points streaming now
Speaker 3: on Netflix, as you highlighted number one thus far, and
Speaker 3: realizing a level of success that you've been enjoying, what
Speaker 3: kind of message would you like to send about what
Speaker 3: it took you to get to where you are, particularly
Speaker 3: to the young ladies out there looking to aspire to
Speaker 3: be great, great things. What kind of message do you
Speaker 3: hope your Netflix series sense? What kind of message do
Speaker 3: you hope your success as the owner for the Los
Speaker 3: Angeles Lake is ultimately since.
Speaker 2: Thank you for asking me that, because that is important
Speaker 2: to me. I know what it meant to me growing
Speaker 2: up to see women in positions of power, and I
Speaker 2: hope that I can be an inspiration to the next generation.
Speaker 2: But what I think has led to my success is
Speaker 2: certainly being able to work with great people. But I
Speaker 2: think we've learned that there are so many distractions with
Speaker 2: social media, the negativity that's out there. You really have
Speaker 2: to be able to, you know, push that aside. You know,
Speaker 2: look at your own path and continue on it. You're
Speaker 2: going to have people challenge you, try to knock you down,
Speaker 2: but know who you are, know who your what your
Speaker 2: truth is, and you know, go to the people who
Speaker 2: support you, and you know it might be a small
Speaker 2: circle of people, the people that you can trust and
Speaker 2: believe in and that believe in you and aren't out
Speaker 2: to knock you off and push you out of the way.
Speaker 2: So if I can show resilience would be the word,
Speaker 2: you know, then I've completed what Billy Jean King did
Speaker 2: for me and inspiring me to pursue what was my passion.
Speaker 3: The one and only Genie Buss, owner for the Los
Speaker 3: Angeles Lakers, executive producer on Running Point, streaming now on Netflix.
Speaker 3: An absolutely wonderful, wonderful lady. And of course I got
Speaker 3: to give love to Linda Rampis as well. You tell
Speaker 3: Linda I said, gave all my best. I owe y'all
Speaker 3: both dinner. Thank you so much, Genie, all the best
Speaker 3: and I'll see you over the weekend.
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you.