Jeanie Buss reveals how mentorship of teenage Kate Hudson set stage for Running Point
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Los Angeles Lakers president, Jeanie Buss, shares how her mentorship to a teenage Kate Hudson helped the new hit Netflix comedy based on her life, Running Point.
Prior to Buss taking over the Lakers, her father Jerry Buss, was the president until he died in 2013. Jeanie became president that year.
“I was 17, 18 years old, just doing whatever my dad asked me to,” Jeanie Buss told Morning Edition host A Martínez per NPR. “I was fascinated by the business, and I shadowed him. Wherever he needed to make an appearance, if he couldn’t go, he would send me as his substitute. And he saw that I loved it, so he just started grooming me from that age to be in the position that I’m in now.”
She added: “He put me in charge and he knew what I would do. He asked me to do something, which was to protect the Lakers. And I did it.”
Buss has two older brothers, Jim and Johnny Buss. Jeanie fought them off to protect the business and her father’s legacy. Jeanie fired Jim in 2017 because she felt that he was not being instrumental in leveraging the team to the standard that their father had left.
Johnny and Jim attempted to pull a coup and get Jeanie removed so that they could regain power. However, her brother’s coup failed and she now has lifetime operational control of the Lakers. Despite that being still recent history, the brothers and Jeanie have worked everything out.
“I’m on good terms now with my older brothers, but they were doing what they thought was right. If they had won and were able to take me out of my position, it would have put the Lakers in chaos. We probably would have been forced to sell the team because we would have been completely dysfunctional without having a controlling voice in all ownership matters,” Jeanie said.
“I knew it wasn’t that going to court gave me the power; I always had the power. It’s just they didn’t understand it. I think they were surprised. I think my dad didn’t explain it to them well, because they would have complained to him and made the last few years of his life miserable,” she added.
How Did Jeanie Buss’ Mentorship Help Kate Hudson’s Portrayal Of Her
In the Netflix comedy, Hudson portrays Jeanie and the two have a history that dates back several decades. Jeanie told the publication that she’s known Hudson since she was about 16 years old and “would stay with me and she would shadow me. I would take her to the box office. I showed her the ropes behind the scenes. She was a very smart girl, curious. She loved being around the heartbeat of the entertainment.”
The How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days actress used to visit the Great Western Forum with her parents when Jeanie was president in the 90’s to enjoy the L.A. Kings hockey games.
“And so the idea that she is now playing a character [based on me], I knew she would nail it because she understood what it’s like, the craziness behind the scenes. People, I think, will really enjoy her performance,” Jeanie said.
Running Point is available on Netflix now.
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