EL SEGUNDO, California - Nakahanda na ang ilang serye ng pagbibigay pugay sa yumaong LA Lakers owner na si Dr. Jerry Buss. Si Buss ay namatay kaninang umaga dahil sa kidney failure.
Bibigyan din ng hiwalay na memorial service si Buss na gagawin sa Nokia Theater na kalapit ng Staples Center na mismong homecourt ng Lakers.
Inalala naman ni 5-time champion Kobe Bryant ang namayapang team owner bilang malaking bagay sa paghulma sa kaniyang basketball career.
Ayon kay Bryant, mula sa edad na 17-anyos nagtiwala na sa kaniya si Buss sa kaniyang kakayahan at kung ano man ang narating niya ngayon ay dahil sa tinatawag nilang Dr. Buss.
Kasama si Kobe sa 10 NBA title na nakuha ng Lakers sa ilalim ni Buss.
"He's meant everything to me in my career. From taking me as a 17-year-old kid coming out of high school to believing in me my whole career. For the game itself, the brand of basketball he implemented, 'Showtime,' [which] carried the league. The rivalry that took place between the Lakers and the Celtics and what that did for the global outreach of the game, it reached me and I was all the way in Italy and I was 6 years old. We never really had a conversation about wisdom. But it was more so about the team, about the game and getting this franchise where it should be. His [imprint] is beyond measure," wika ni Bryant. (ESPN/AP/Bomboradyo)
