Jerry Buss buys a sports team with no money down and turns into Magic, Kobe, Shaq and 17 banners.
Daughter Jeanie Buss has to pull a Game of Thrones move and fire her own brothers to keep it alive.
I love the ups and downs of this story!
Trailer for “Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, the Forum, and a Nevada ranch in 1979 with barely any real cash. He leveraged almost everything and still closed the deal.
- Magic Johnson’s HIV announcement came at the height of his fame, but Buss insisted he stay with the team. He eventually made him a part-owner.
- In 2017, Jeanie Buss fired her own brother Jim (and another brother) in a late-night legal move—taking back the team their dad meant for all of them to share.
Watch “Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers”
You can watch “Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers” on Hulu.
Ratings
- My Rating: 94/100
- IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 82/100 (Users); 100/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the doc blends highlight reels with sit-down confessionals. He gets rare access to the Buss family’s personal archive. This includes Dr. Buss’s home videos, Jeanie’s private journals, and Magic’s early interviews post-HIV.
Release Date: August 15, 2022 (Hulu)
My Review of “Legacy: The True Story of the LA Lakers”
The Setup
This is a sports doc and a family saga about how one man turned a bankrupt basketball team into a multibillion-dollar entertainment empire. And how his kids nearly tore it apart trying to inherit it.
Each episode jumps between eras, from Magic’s HIV diagnosis to the Kobe–Shaq wars, to Jeanie Buss’s legal takeover of the franchise. The players are all legends. But the real story here is off the court: lawsuits, betrayals, secret votes, and Buss family backstabbing that would make HBO’s “Succession” jealous.
More Highlights from the Doc
- How Buss ran the Lakers like a startup—with his kids running major departments while still in their 20s, leading to decades of internal battles.
- The Shaq vs. Kobe feud: egos, insults, and one moment that nearly destroyed the dynasty before it produced three rings.
- Kobe Bryant’s legal case in Colorado is covered with raw honesty—including the ripple effect on the team’s chemistry and public image.
- The Phil Jackson–Jeanie Buss romance, and how Phil managed Shaq, Kobe, and later Pau Gasol—while writing entire books throwing players under the bus.
- The doc ends with the LeBron era, showing how Jeanie rebuilt the team post-Kobe, and how the Buss family remained in control despite multiple takeover attempts.
Cameos – Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- Michael Cooper reveals he once lived in a closet at the Forum to avoid commuting and could hear rats running across the ceiling.
- Shaq talks about his “freestyle rap insults” toward Kobe on stage during a concert and how he regrets nothing.
- Magic Johnson admits he wanted to coach—and did, briefly—and immediately realized it was a mistake.
- Former GM Jerry West appears to explain the raw stress of winning—and his anger over how he’s portrayed in other dramatizations (like “Winning Time”).
Wrap Up
If you like sports docs with family dysfunction, power grabs, and true “from broke to billions” arcs—this one’s a must-watch.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc