Sparks President Johnny Buss wants to make the team
"successful on the court and at the gate," as the WNBA
franchise "has been a disappointment" in its first three
seasons with "relatively sparse" crowds, according to
Barbara Kingsley of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. The team's
front office has been a "revolving door," with Buss firing
GM Rhonda Windham last week and the team employing three
coaches in three seasons. Kingsley: "It is conceivable the
team could fail -- the WNBA could pull up stakes, or the
Buss family could give up. That would be unfortunate. Not
so much for the league or [Lakers Owner] Jerry Buss. For
Johnny." Buss, who Kingsley described as a "testy Hollywood
producer, ready to fire the director when things don't go
right": "I personally need it to succeed, so I will have
lived my life in sports with one true success story."
Kingsley noted that Buss is "desperate" to promote the
Sparks and increase attendance, and that he "rails endlessly
against a league set on imposing its will." Buss said that
he "often gets into pitched battles" with WNBA President Val
Ackerman and "fights league officials who tell him how to
market the team, what sponsors to woo and where to play."
Buss: "At times I feel like walking off the set here. It's
very difficult as an artist to have the business discipline
to stay put. ... They're going to kick me out of this league
if I continue to be belligerent" (O.C. REGISTER, 6/28).
SISTER IS DOING IT FOR HERSELF: FSN's Keith Olbermann
noted the Lakers naming Jeanie Buss as Exec VP/Business
Operations and said, "Someday the NBA's first woman owner
will be in Los Angeles" ("Fox Sports News Primetime," 6/28).
