Lakers News: Celtics Co-Owner’s Off-Court Partnership With Lakers Owner Jeanie Buss
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Rivals on the floor, business comrades off it.
Los Angeles Lakers majority owner Jeanie Buss remains one of the most beloved team governors in the NBA — she’s even earned props from a surprising place.
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Boston Celtics co-owner Emilia Fazzalari sat for a lengthy interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson over at Bally Sports Network.
During their extensive chat, Fazzalari touched on young Boston stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, as well as recently-passed 11-time champ Bill Russell. But the most pertinent facet of their conversation, from a Laker fan perspective, concerned Buss.
Here’s a clip from that portion of their discussion:
Fazzalari is now business partners with her husband Wyc Grousbeck, Buss, Charlotte Hornets owner Michael Jordan, and Milwaukee Bucks owner Wesley Edens. The group has been collaborating for years on their luxury tequila brand, Cincoro. They just released the beverage’s latest vintage, Cincoro Gold.
“Well actually, there’s just five of us; hence the name cinco/cincoro — cinco for five and coro for gold as the five of us create the gold standard in tequila. And so, how it all started was we were all in New York for a NBA Board of Governors Meeting and we all decided to get together for dinner and that night something really special happened; it was five of us and four NBA teams — Jeanie Buss with the Lakers, Michael Jordan with the Hornets, [Wes] Edens with the Bucks and me and Wyc [Grousbeck] with the Celtics and we are four arch rivals and when we got together for dinner that night, something really special happened. We bonded as friends and we realized that we all had a shared love for tequila. And from that dinner the concept of Cincora was born. We talked about creating an absolutely delicious tasting tequila that was really smooth, one that was really important to us and one that would have a really good finish as a really fine cognac or bourbon.”
Fazzalari notes that, despite their teams being historic nemeses on the hardwood, she and Buss (and the other owners) are friendly off it.
“We’re arch rivals and during the season there’s a LOT of trash talking that goes on but, what pulls us all together is a mutual love and respect for one another at the core of our relationship. We are fierce competitors and we don’t like to lose and we have a passion for doing things right and not settling unless it’s the very best and we take that very same approach at Cincoro. So our ‘North Star’ has always been the liquid and we aspire to greatness with it.”
As far as the way in which Buss is continuing the legacy of Lakers greatness established by her late father, Dr. Jerry Buss, Fazzalari raved about Jeanie Buss and her contribution to athletics.
“She’s a true inspiration. I mean, she’s one of the most powerful women in sports media today. She’s a great friend, an incredible partner and she does it with such class and elegance and power. I admire her a lot.”
Perhaps this burgeoning friendship between these unlikely allies can be exploited for team building purposes. How about a Russell Westbrook and two unprotected future first-round picks for, say, Marcus Smart, Derrick White and some flotsam?