Phil Jackson's Story About Jeanie Buss Not Traveling First Class To Save Lakers Money Goes Viral

Following the Los Angeles Lakers' failed pursuit of UConn head coach Dan Hurley, the spotlight has fallen on their ownership group. Their lack of financial might compared to others around the league has come to the forefront and in this backdrop, a story shared by Phil Jackson about Jeanie Buss went viral on Reddit (the post has now been deleted from Reddit).

"As the first-class passengers were called, I asked if she was going to board the plane, but she said she flew coach, explaining that flying first class wasn't necessary and that the Lakers didn't need the added expense," Jackson wrote in the foreword to the book "Laker Girl."

I should make it clear this exchange took place in 1999, but still, this was the daughter of the Lakers' owner not flying first class just to save some money. Even Jackson assumed she would be in first class and was surprised to hear that wasn't the case.

While the Lakers are one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world, their owners don't have the deepest pockets. Buss reportedly has a net worth of $700 million, which pales in comparison to some of her contemporaries.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has a net worth of $128.3 billion, according to Forbes, and he has spared no expense in his quest to elevate that franchise. Ballmer recently paid the big bucks to extend head coach Tyronn Lue and has overseen the construction of a new state-of-the-art arena, The Intuit Dome, as well.

Even if you set aside Ballmer as somewhat of an exception, Buss lags way behind many others too. Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, for example, has a net worth of $30.4 billion while Denver Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke is at $16.2 billion.

Even new Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia has a net worth of $11 billion and NBA personnel are questioning if the Lakers owners can keep up with wealthier governors. The way that Dr. Jerry Buss ran the ship and the way her daughter does now, just might not work anymore.

The formula for the Lakers was that the purse strings would be loosened for the players but for no one else. Dr. Buss did not mind paying Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant the big bucks, but at the same time, then-GM Jerry West was underpaid.

Fast forward to the present, and we see Jeanie operate in a somewhat similar fashion. Like her father, she has no qualms about giving max contracts to superstars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Lakers have also been a luxury tax team for a while, so it isn't like she has refused to spend whatsoever, but there are limits to how far she has been willing to go. The best example of that was the whole Alex Caruso situation.

Buss and the Lakers wanted Caruso to take a hometown discount to save them some luxury tax dollars and he ended up leaving to join the Chicago Bulls. If the team's owner was someone like Ballmer or Ishbia, there was no chance of the guard leaving town. 

As for splurging on the non-playing staff, that has been out of the question for Buss. The Lakers infamously lowballed Tyronn Lue during negotiations which led to him deciding against becoming head coach of the franchise and this offer for Hurley was termed as underwhelming too.

It's not just coaches either whom the Lakers don't want to pay top dollar, according to that report where their financial might was being questioned by NBA personnel.

"The general opinion around the league is that the Lakers have a very frugal front office. Outside of the scouting department for the draft, L.A. doesn't have scouts spread throughout the league watching NBA talent on a nightly basis in person like other franchises."

In a day and age where teams try to gain every possible advantage that they can in order to have success, the Lakers seem to be one of the exceptions. This whole saga has led to growing calls for Buss to sell the team but I doubt that she will.