Jerry Buss, the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers passed away today at the age of 80 due to complications from cancer. He bought the Lakers NBA team, the Kings NHL team, and the Forum arena from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979 with earnings from his real estate investments. His Lakers teams won ten NBA Finals (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010) during his reign as owner. He was also inducted to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 2010.

While the Kings did not win a Stanley Cup during Buss' reign as owner, they are now the current reigning Stanley Cup Champions after winning the series in 2012 despite being the 8th seed in the Western Conference in the playoffs.

On the WNBA side, Buss was the first owner of the Los Angeles Sparks franchise from 1997-2006 when he sold the team to Kathy Goodman and Carla Christofferson. The Sparks won the 2001 and 2002 WNBA Finals under Buss' reign.

To read more on Jerry Buss, please read our Lakers SB Nation blog, Silver Screen and Roll's piece remembering him. In addition, SB Nation NBA has a StoryStream on this story.