Jerry Buss

So Arsenio Hall, sizzling comet of a talk-show host, and Irving Azoff, King Midas of the record biz, are enjoying a Laker game at the Forum from Irving's courtside seats, down there where your hair gets mussed by the jet stream. Maybe it's the force field of highly charged molecular particles that are set to bouncing by the Laker fast break and can be felt only by the chosen 128 courtsiders, but Arsenio has a burst of creativity and comes up with this hilarious spoof of a rap artist.

The Lakers have already showed appreciation for Jamaal Wilkes' induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame by planning to retire his No. 52 jersey at some point next season. They're also doing so in words,  releasing a statement on behalf of Lakers owner Jerry Buss. "Anyone who truly knows and loves the game of basketball surely recognizes what a special and gifted player Jamaal Wilkes was.  A rare combination of selflessness and grace, Jamaal made the game look effortless.

A woman who claims that she met Los Angeles Lakers' owner Jerry Buss in the elevator of a West Hollywood hotel in 1969 and lived with him on and off for the next 15 years, filed a $25-million palimony suit against the millionaire businessman Wednesday, charging that he lied when he pledged he would take care of her for the rest of her life.

I asked the Lakers to set up an email account to make it easier for you to pass on your apologies. You really do need to say you're sorry, after all; you have to admit you've been quite the fool for piping up without knowing any better. At the very least it would be the grown-up thing to do, wishing him well at: jim.buss@lakers.com . And while I look for an appropriate place where the Jim Buss statue might stand at Staples Center, you might want to ponder how you could have been so wrong about somebody.

The most powerful female sports executive in the country was sweating profusely in the wilds of Montana, part of a month-long vacation at her boyfriend's lakeside retreat. During an afternoon outing picking huckleberries, she found herself playing a role--a sort of Beverly Hillbilly in reverse--that didn't come naturally, though she was coping.

There were times in the last two years when the Kings' owner, Jerry Buss, was feeling particularly depressed about his hockey team's poor play. At those times, he would walk into a screening room at his Beverly Hills mansion and take out a video cassette that always made him feel better. After punching a few buttons on the video cassette recorder, Buss would be whisked back in time to April 10, 1982.

The Lakers have already showed appreciation for Jamaal Wilkes' induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame by planning to retire his No. 52 jersey at some point next season. They're also doing so in words,  releasing a statement on behalf of Lakers owner Jerry Buss. "Anyone who truly knows and loves the game of basketball surely recognizes what a special and gifted player Jamaal Wilkes was.  A rare combination of selflessness and grace, Jamaal made the game look effortless.

After he purchased the Lakers in 1979, one of the biggest and most successful moves Jerry Buss made involved suggesting the team draft Magic Johnson as the No. 1 overall draft pick. Johnson then brought "Showtime" to the Lakers and guided them to five NBA championships. Now, Johnson is building off his storied NBA career and various business projects in purchasing the Dodgers for $2.15 billion with a group involving Guggenheim Partners.  "Magic Johnson is probably the most beloved sports figure in Los Angeles history," Buss said in a statement.  "In addition to being a phenomenal success on the court in leading the Lakers to five NBA championships, he has been a success in everything else he's become involved with, most notably his spectacular business career and also his educational campaign on behalf of HIV awareness.  I'd like to congratulate Magic and his partners on their acquisition of the Dodgers and wish them the best of luck.

The first sign this wasn't an ordinary day was the presence of the Rolls-Royce in the players' parking lot. It stuck out among all the other luxury cars because of its owner. Jerry Buss was at the Lakers' training facility Tuesday primarily to see his daughter, team executive Jeanie Buss , though the players interpreted it as a symbolic appearance 12 hours after they foundered in another playoff series opener. The Lakers' owner made a brief but grand appearance during practice, walking down a long stairwell that starts near the office of General Manager Mitch Kupchak and ends near the basketball court.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss was arrested early Tuesday morning in Carlsbad on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and faces two misdemeanor charges, according to a police report. Buss, 74, failed a sobriety test after being pulled over at 12:50 a.m. near downtown Carlsbad. Police said his blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit of 0.08%, although the final results were not released.

After he purchased the Lakers in 1979, one of the biggest and most successful moves Jerry Buss made involved suggesting the team draft Magic Johnson as the No. 1 overall draft pick. Johnson then brought "Showtime" to the Lakers and guided them to five NBA championships. Now, Johnson is building off his storied NBA career and various business projects in purchasing the Dodgers for $2.15 billion with a group involving Guggenheim Partners.  "Magic Johnson is probably the most beloved sports figure in Los Angeles history," Buss said in a statement.  "In addition to being a phenomenal success on the court in leading the Lakers to five NBA championships, he has been a success in everything else he's become involved with, most notably his spectacular business career and also his educational campaign on behalf of HIV awareness.  I'd like to congratulate Magic and his partners on their acquisition of the Dodgers and wish them the best of luck.

Among the highlights of my interview with D-Fenders CEO Joey Buss: -- How he hopes the fourth season in overseeing the D-Fenders will help prepare him for a role in Lakers' management. -- The idea behind the D-Fenders playing their homes games at Toyota Sports Center instead of Staples Center. -- What impact the move has made. -- The team's success in the 2011-12 season. -- How he's driven to prove he's not just a silver spooner living off the success of his father, Jerry Buss, who owns the Lakers.

Jim Buss said Friday the Lakers are "the team to beat" in the West and praised Coach Mike Brown for doing a "fantastic" job this season. "The formula is pointing toward a deep run in the playoffs," Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president of player personnel, said during an in-studio interview with Steve Mason and John Ireland on ESPN 710 radio. Buss said the Lakers are a championship-caliber team and said his opinion is shared by Kobe Bryant , whom he said he will never trade.

The universal condemnation that has hit Jim Buss this season is being called inaccurate by one person in particular. The guy who works with Buss every day. Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak said Buss was being unfairly assailed, part of an in-depth interview Kupchak granted Monday to The Times. Buss' title is executive vice president of player personnel for the Lakers, but he's drawing more power every year as per the wishes of his father, team owner Jerry Buss. "Jim gets way too much criticism and not enough credit with the success this team has had," Kupchak said.

I've been happily married to the Lakers for 45 years. They've given me many great moments, and 11 unforgettable championships. But the passion is fading. The Lakers are showing their age, and the losses are mounting. As a result, the frequency of our television interludes has slipped. And now along come the perky, new-look Clippers. Chris Paul is adorable. Blake Griffin is electric! They run. They dunk. They win! Despite best intentions, I find myself infatuated with these Clippers, thinking about them constantly.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss has been hospitalized at an undisclosed location because of blood clots in his leg caused by excessive travel, a team spokesman said Wednesday. "He's doing well and expects to be released in the next day or two," Lakers publicist John Black said. Buss, who turns 78 next month, has been traveling overseas and domestically in recent weeks. He will probably attend the Lakers' exhibition opener Dec. 19 against the Clippers at Staples Center. "We would expect so," Black said.

Without a doubt, life is smiling at Jerry Buss these days. "Like all gamblers, we feel like we're on a run," the Lakers owner said while reclining in a black leather chair near his luxury suite Sunday at Staples Center. The Lakers are five months removed from an NBA championship and favored to win another, leaving Buss in an upbeat mood as one day turns to another. In a wide-ranging 30-minute interview, Buss revealed why he was willing to spend a league-high $112.7 million to satisfy the Lakers' soaring player payroll demands.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss didn't want to predict the future for the NBA regarding its labor issues, but he knows the summer of 2011 has the potential for problems. NBA owners can opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement that summer and bring the players back to the bargaining table. The talk has been that the owners want "give-backs" from the players. When the owners locked the players out during the 1998-99 season, the schedule didn't start until February and included just 50 games.

The crowded fastbreak of prospective Dodgers owners suddenly has an all-star businessman and community leader holding the ball. It's Magic Johnson, and the score for this city could be huge. Johnson announced Friday that he had joined forces with Guggenheim Baseball Management, an arm of a financial services firm that controls more than $125 billion in assets, in hopes of buying the Dodgers. With Johnson serving as the point man for a group that will be backed by the prestigious Guggenheim brand and led by respected veteran baseball executive Stan Kasten, it's a potential dream team.

Jerry West, the Lakers' Mr. Clutch who was an All-Star in all 14 of his NBA seasons before helping assemble teams that won six NBA titles as Lakers general manager from 1982-2000, says in his new book that his personnel job was "like putting on a Broadway play and hope you cast it perfectly. " In "West By West: My Charmed, Tormented Life," to be released this week, the 73-year-old Hall of Famer, newly hired as special advisor to the Golden State Warriors, reveals the dark drama that swirled around and within him during his legendary run in Los Angeles.