http://espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/story/_/id/8949536/jerry-buss-los-angeles-lakers-owner-hospitalized
Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss is currently hospitalized, according to multiple sources familiar with the situation.
A Lakers spokesman declined to comment on the situation out of respect for the families' privacy. A hospital spokesman wouldn't confirm whether Buss was at the hospital.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Buss an undisclosed form of cancer. The paper said he has spent time in the intensive care unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, citing "multiple team personnel."
Buss has been in and out of the hospital for the past two years. The Lakers confirmed he was in the hospital in December 2011 for blood clots in his leg, which they said was caused by excessive travel.
Buss has passed the day-to-day operation of the teams on to his children, Jim (who oversees basketball operations) and Jeanie (who oversees the business side of the franchise). He was involved, however, in the offseason acquisition of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, and in the in-season coaching move that fired Mike Brown and hired Mike D'Antoni.
ESPN.com's Rick Reilly quoted Nash in a column two weeks ago about his first meeting with Buss.
"I went to the hospital in September, and we had a great talk," Nash said. "It was supposed to be five minutes, but we talked for about an hour. You could see he was fighting something big, but he still had a great spirit, a great mind. He's still full of life."
The Times reported that a number of current and former Lakers have visited Buss in the hospital in recent months.
Buss has owned the team since 1979 when he purchased the Lakers, the Forum, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and real estate from Jack Kent Cooke. The team has won 10 of its 16 titles under Buss' ownership.
The Lakers were recently valued at $1 billion by Forbes magazine, the second most valuable team in the NBA behind the New York Knicks.
