Lakers’ Owner Jeanie Buss Exposes NBA Owner’s Harassment

Jeanie Buss had to deal with a lot in her early days as an official owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. In her tell-all interview with Graham Bensinger, Buss talked about the bullying and the harassment she had to deal with back in the days.

During her appearance on Depth with Graham Bensinger, Buss shared how an NBA owner bullied her in a really intimidating act. Well, successful Buss didn’t take a step back and actually taught them a lesson.

The horrible incident happened in 1995 during Buss’ first NBA board of governors meeting. She included more details about his in the 2010 book “Laker Girl.” Buss turned the sexual harassment into a lesson for the NBA owner and fought back like a pro. The Lakers owner had all the confidence in the world and the person had to back off. Her father taught her well.

“As we were waiting, taking a break from the meeting and everybody’s in line for the buffet, for lunch during lunch break, somebody grabs my ass. And I turn around and, you know, I was so shocked,” Buss said.

“But it was like, if I didn’t have the confidence that my dad put in me, that was a moment where I wanted to shrink and to be nothing, that I would have, you know, gotten sick and said, ‘I gotta go.’ Do I really belong here? You know, I’m just really not one of the group, like I’m been singled out. It made me really self conscious.”

Buss turned the harassment into a warning for the NBA

It was a big challenge for Buss and she feared that other owners may not respect her at all. It was an unfortunate event and Buss decided to help other new owners. Everyone had to deal with awful people and Buss showed her best side to the world. She didn’t want to be a mean person. She stood with those in need. New owners often receive similar treatment and Buss knows it well. Buss wanted to reach out for everyone who needed a supportive person. That’s how you turn an unfortunate event into a big warning for rude people.

“But everybody that came after me, I could help them in the room because they’d be new — they’d be the the new person,” the Lakers boss added. “So the next new person was Mark Cuban. And I made sure that from day one, I put my hand out to him and said like, ‘Hey, if I can help you understand any of this stuff, if there’s any questions, like here’s my number. Call me now and I’ll help you, and I’ll support you.’”