Jeanie Buss takes part in the ring ceremony after the Lakers' last championship in 2010. (Chris Carlson / Associated Press / October 26, 2010)
She sits in the first row behind the courtside seats, directly across from the Lakers' bench, the coolest seat in the house.
For years, fans have stopped by to cheer with her, mourn with her, question her, or just hug her.
Bill Plaschke
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For years, through showers of confetti and storms of boos, Jeanie Buss has always been in that seat, evolving into one of the most active, visible and trusted connections between Lakers management and the fans.
Which makes you wonder why, this season, she's barely been around.
Some longtime season-ticket holders say they have seen her at only a couple of games. When I call her this week, she says she's been to four.
That's four out of 14 home games, which is 29%, which is about what her Lakers are shooting from the three-point line.
When you're talking about the team's executive vice president for business operations, a high-profile executive for whom the Lakers are family, it's just plain weird.
''This year has been just different for me," she says.
Different for her, different on the court, different in the standings, and you wonder, if like many of us, Jeanie Buss just doesn't feel connected to this team.
The obvious change is that her boyfriend of a dozen years is no longer the head coach. She used to drive to every home game with Phil Jackson, sometimes even sitting with him in the stands during the D-League games in the late afternoons before taking her seat across from him at tipoff.
''When I go to the games now, I can't even drive in the carpool lane," she says, laughing.
Buss says that with Jackson now retired and living here, they are making up for all those nights they spent apart.
"I'm catching up on all the things I missed doing with my boyfriend for 12 years," she says. "He was always working, and he's not now, so I like to stay home and hang with him."
But there's obviously more here. Attending 10 more home games wouldn't seem to have a huge impact on hang time with a retiree. Buss' absence seems to be a statement that is less about her personal life and more about her basketball team.
Is she as befuddled by their approach as everyone else? Or, like many others, is she just plain bored?
"This year has been unusual … unique," she admits. "They should put a star next to it."
To understand Jeanie Buss' situation, one must first understand her position in the organization, where her father, Jerry, has essentially split the handling of the team's operations between her and her brother Jim.
Jeanie runs the business side, Jim runs the basketball side, yet Jeanie is a far more established presence because of her enduring connection with the community and deep understanding of what Lakers fans want. Although Jeanie has never made a basketball decision, she has long been the one to remind the basketball people what sells, and to push her father into sparing no expense in acquiring it.
Jeanie is the front-office personification of Showtime while Jim is, well, we really don't know what Jim is yet, do we? Right now, I guess, he's the guy who gave away Lamar Odom for nothing.
Jeanie Buss, Jeanie Buss, Lakers, the Lakers, Lakers, PhoenixComparing Lakers, Lakers Lakers
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