Jerry Buss memorial: Former Lakers talk about owner [Video]

Former Lakers players, coaches and extended family members gathered Thursday afternoon at Nokia Theatre for a memorial service for Jerry Buss, the longtime Lakers owner who died Monday.

Buss, who bought the Lakers, the Kings, the Forum and a Kern County ranch in 1979 for $67 million from Jack Kent Cooke, died Monday of kidney failure after a long battle with an undisclosed cancer.

Jim Hill will emcee the service. Among the guest speakers will be Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Phil Jackson.

Lakers All-Star guard Kobe Bryant is expected to speak Thursday.

“It’s a huge honor to play for this organization,” Bryant said earlier this week. “Everything that he’s built: You look around at all the trophies. You look at all the parades and all the support that we have and what this organization means, that all came from one man, his vision. His vision transcended the game. It became pop culture. The impact is global.”

Bryant said the team needs to continue the tradition.

“We’ve got to continue to carry on what he built,” he said. “Carry it on the right way and represent him the right way.”