“He did have surgery and it went fine,” Lakers spokesman John Black said. “He’s not home yet, but he’s expected to make a full recovery.”
Black would not discuss the procedure.
Buss’ son, Jim, the Lakers’ executive vice president of player personnel, on Friday told Times columnist T.J. Simers that his father got “out of surgery 14 hours ago” when the owner called Friday morning wanting details about the Lakers’ acquisition of Dwight Howard from the Orlando Magic.
“I was with him [Thursday] night and he was basically incoherent and he was going to be like that for two or three days,” Buss told Simers.
Jerry Buss, 78, was hospitalized in July for dehydration. He was also taken to a hospital in December to treat blood clots in his legs, which were attributed to excessive travel.
Buss has owned the Lakers since 1979, when he purchased the team along with the Forum, the NHL‘s Kings and a 13,000-acre ranch in Kern County for $67 million from Jack Kent Cooke.
Buss has since built the Lakers into one of the top empires in the sports world. The team has won 10 NBA championships under his stewardship and the franchise has been valued at $900 million by Forbes.
In recent years, Jerry Buss has gradually ceded more control of the Lakers to Jim and daughter Jeanie Buss, the team’s executive vice president of business operations.
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