Jerry Buss, Los Angeles Lakers’ owner, dies at 80

Jerry Buss, Los Angeles Lakers’ owner, dies at 80

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jerry Buss, the Los Angeles Lakers’ playboy owner who shepherded the NBA franchise to 10 championships from the `80s Showtime dynasty to the Kobe Bryant era, died today, his assistant said.

Buss died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said Bob Steiner, his assistant. He was 80.

He’d been hospitalized for cancer, but the immediate cause of death was kidney failure, Steiner said.