Lakers Executive Jeanie Buss Opens Up About Death Threats She Received Last Season

During the 2022-23 season, Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss received death threats from supporters. Buss said on The Athletic NBA Show podcast that the threats occurred during the team’s sluggish start.

Lakers Executive Jeanie Buss Opens Up About Death Threats She Received Last Season

The Lakers started the 2022-23 season with a 3-10 record, as they adjusted to bringing Russell Westbrook off the bench after he started all 78 games the previous season, when L.A. did not make the playoffs.

The Lakers ultimately finished the hard journey to 500, winning 37-37 on March 24. They won six of their final eight regular-season games to advance to the postseason play-in round.

They won the series and progressed to the 2023 Western Conference Finals after beating the Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors before being swept by the eventual NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

One of the tragic and regrettable aspects about sports is how serious the people who watch them can be. It’s one thing to support a team, but anything that demeans another human being is unacceptable.

In an interview, Jeanie Buss, owner of the Los Angeles franchise, claimed that she had received death threats as a result of the team’s dismal performance previous year.

“Last season started off really tough,” Buss said. “I was like, ‘I’m not gonna survive this. This is gonna be really rough.’

“I was getting death threats. And then the team, something just clicked. And Anthony Davis being healthy — there’s an argument to be made that he was the best player in the NBA when he was playing.”

Davis was a key player for the Lakers down the stretch and into the playoffs, leading the club in either scoring or rebounds in each of the last 12 regular-season games and 18 of the last 19.

Danny Green, a former Los Angeles Lakers guard, said he and his fiancée got death threats on social media after missing a three-pointer late in Game 5 of the 2020 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat.

In 56 games this season, he averaged 25.9 points and 12.5 rebounds per game. His rebounding average would have topped the NBA if he had participated in all 58 games necessary to qualify.

 

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