Skin’s Spin: Jeanie Buss exemplifies important paradigm shift

Jeanie Buss is a Trojan alumna and voting member of USC’s Board of Trustees. She also happens to be the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers after the high profile ousting of her brother and former controlling owner of the organization, Jim Buss, in March 2017.

Since she took the reins from her brother, the Lakers have been in a state of seemingly constant flux. Yet, as I write this column, they sit atop the Western Conference standings and have two of the best players in the NBA on their roster in Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

The current state of Buss’ Lakers may seem somewhat idyllic, but her overall tumultuous tenure as the final decision-maker of one of the world’s most recognizable sports brands tells a more complex story about the collectively shifting paradigm of gender politics.

The sports industry has traditionally been seen as hypermasculine, and sports are still considered one of the most socially acceptable forms of “masculine” entertainment to this day. The most celebrated athletes are mostly men, as are the executives who operate the leagues and organizations. This is equally true of the journalists and pundits who cover the happenings of the world of sports.

Keeping this in mind, Jeanie Buss’ powerful position in the industry provides a unique opportunity to analyze the expanding role that women appear to have in sports — and in society in general — and the effects it may have on that larger gender politics paradigm.

To understand how Buss fits into this discussion, it would be valuable to have some background knowledge on what has happened to the Lakers since she took over.

Buss acquired controlling ownership of the Lakers toward the end of the 2016-17 NBA season. Quickly thereafter, she hired former Lakers star Earvin “Magic” Johnson to serve as president of basketball operations and former high-powered sports agent Rob Pelinka to serve as the team’s general manager. Johnson’s official affiliation with the organization ended when he stepped down from his role in an impromptu pregame press conference in April.

In that press conference, Johnson indicated that a reason for his resignation involved a controversy with then-Lakers head coach Luke Walton, whom he wanted to fire. Buss, however, couldn’t bring herself to approve that decision.

“I don’t want to put her in the middle of [the situation with Walton], even though she said, ‘Hey, you can do what you want to do,’” Johnson said. “I know she has great love for him and great love for me.”

Johnson implied that his close relationship with Buss could not withstand a relatively simple disagreement over who ought to be the team’s head coach, and he additionally implied that he was leaving because he could not have his way. Johnson later went on various talk shows and indicated that the primary reason for his resignation was his frustration with Pelinka, but that does not excuse the fact that his first instinct was to blame Buss.

Due to the fact that Magic is a universally beloved sports icon, especially here in L.A., his controversial departure from the Lakers seems to have faded into nothingness as time has passed.

But this does not change the fact that his first instinct was to excuse himself from his responsibilities and obligations to the organization by throwing Jeanie Buss under the bus (pun intended). The incident is a microcosm of the gender politics paradigm shift that is confronting traditionally masculine facets of our world.

Women are increasingly taking and wielding power, and those who have grown accustomed to the traditionally masculine nature of corporate power are having to learn how to adapt to this new reality. It seems that those who are made uncomfortable by this shift prefer to take their ball and go home, as Magic Johnson did, but abdicating all responsibility is not an option for most people even if they are disgruntled. While this may seem problematic, that does not have to be the case.

Women having power over men is no more or less of a problem than men having power over women. These dynamics are not harmful in and of themselves considering that hierarchical power systems are an intrinsic part of the human social experience, especially in the sports industry.

The problems that may derive from the shifting dynamic will come if women are granted undeserved power due to their gender, as it will lead to a gender-based conflict where all those affected by this phenomenon are entitled to righteous resentment. That said, men have benefited from their gender status — at least in a social and financial sense ­— for all of human history, and a conflict of this nature would merely be a role-reversal of that which has persisted for far too long.

Hopefully, the shifting gender politics paradigm will settle in a place that allows for greater meritocracy to exist so that those who want and deserve to have power are granted that power regardless of whether they have a Y chromosome or not. This idealistic, meritocratic society is something to strive toward, despite the fact that there will surely be many speed bumps along the way.

In Jeanie Buss’ case, yes, she inherited her portion of ownership of the Lakers through her late father, Jerry Buss, but she had to fight to earn her position as controlling owner from her brother, who was handed the keys because he was the first born male. Clearly, she has benefitted from her last name, not her gender.

Jeanie Buss’ story is an example of how the existence of a powerful feminine figure operating in a traditionally masculine world can lead to messy confrontations, especially when that femininity is perceived as a threat to masculinity. But progress of this kind often comes at a cost. She is human and therefore imperfect, but as a USC alumna, the Trojan family should see her as a symbol of that progress and root for her to succeed, whether they’re Lakers fans or not.

Joe Skinner is a sophomore writing about USC alumni in sports. His column, “Skin’s Spin,” runs every other Tuesday.