So, picture this: It’s 1979, and a self-made real estate mogul named Jerry Buss walks into a room with a checkbook and a dream. He’s about to buy a basketball team—but not just any team. He’s buying the Los Angeles Lakers, a franchise that’s historically good but financially flailing. The story goes that Buss, a man who loved science and gambling in equal measure, saw the Lakers as his ultimate poker chip. And the price? That is where the legend gets a little weird.
The number everyone throws around is $67 million. Yes, sixty-seven million dollars—which in today’s money feels like a bargain for a studio apartment in Beverly Hills. But here’s the kicker: Buss didn’t just buy the Lakers. He bought the whole damn package: the Lakers, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team, and the Forum arena, all bundled together like a fast-food combo meal. The Lakers alone? The actual price tag for the basketball franchise was $16 million. (Yeah, I had to read that twice too.)
The Real Deal Behind the Numbers
Let’s break it down, because my brain initially treated this like a math problem from hell. Buss and his partner, a doctor named Jerry Buss (yes, same name, different guy—confusing, right?), put up the cash. The $67 million covered the arena, the hockey team’s debts, and the Lakers’ roster of future Hall-of-Famers like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But if you strip away the real estate and the ice rink, the Lakers themselves were valued at $16 million. That’s roughly the cost of a private jet today—if that jet came with Magic Johnson’s smile.
Must Read
Why so cheap? Because in 1979, the NBA was not the global juggernaut it is now. Games were on tape delay. Players flew commercial. The idea of a $300 million TV deal was pure science fiction. Buss, though, had a hunch—or maybe a chemical imbalance of optimism—that basketball could become entertainment. He saw the Lakers as a stage, not just a team. And let’s be honest, he was right, because now we’re arguing about LeBron’s legacy over $200 beers.
The Magic of the Magic Transaction
Here’s the part that makes me laugh: Buss almost didn’t buy the team. He was in the middle of negotiating when the Lakers won the coin flip for the #1 draft pick—Magic Johnson. Suddenly, the price jumped. The sellers knew they had a golden ticket. Buss, being Buss, didn’t flinch. He paid a little extra, but that extra was the best $5 million he ever spent. Because without Magic, there’s no Showtime, no three titles in the ‘80s, and no global brand worth six billion dollars today. (Yes, billion with a B. Your calculator is not broken.)
The real price Jerry Buss paid for LA Lakers shows incredible profit
Think about that for a second: Buss paid what amounts to pocket change—relative to today’s valuations—for a dynasty. The Lakers’ current net worth? Around $6.4 billion, according to Forbes. That’s a return on investment that would make Warren Buffett weep into his morning coffee. It’s like buying a used Honda Civic in 1979 and watching it turn into a Ferrari that prints money.
The Legacy of a Bargain
So, what did Jerry Buss actually pay for the Lakers? The simple answer is $16 million. The complicated answer is everything. He paid in vision, charisma, and a willingness to treat players like stars before anyone else did. He paid in late-night poker games with Magic and Kareem. He paid in free drinks and front-row seats for Hollywood’s glitterati. He bought a team, but he built a kingdom.
How Did Jerry Buss Buy the Lakers? HBO 'Winning Time' True Story
And here’s the ironic twist: Buss didn’t even have the cash at first. He leveraged his real estate holdings to secure the loan. He was basically playing Monopoly with actual money, betting the farm on a game where the ball is orange and round. Could you do that today? Try buying a NBA team on credit—the league’s owners would laugh you out of the boardroom and into bankruptcy court. But in 1979, the risk was real, and the reward was unimaginable.
The Final Score
Today, people love to throw around that $67 million figure like it’s a trivia answer at a sports bar. But the truth is more intimate: Buss paid $16 million for the Lakers, and the rest was for parking lots and hockey rinks. He paid a price that seems insane now because he saw the future before the rest of us did. He turned a basketball team into a lifestyle brand, a cultural institution, and a money-printing machine. And he did it all with a cheeky grin and a bottle of champagne.
So next time you watch LeBron hit a fadeaway or see the purple and gold float above the crowd, remember: it started with a guy who was willing to bet $16 million on a dream. That’s not just a purchase. That’s a heist in broad daylight. And Jerry Buss? He walked away as the richest man in the room—even if he never cashed out. (Not bad for a chemist from Wyoming, huh?)
