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Nov 14, 2011; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss attends the NCAA basketball game between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Southern California Trojans at the Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Imago
Nov 14, 2011; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss attends the NCAA basketball game between the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Southern California Trojans at the Galen Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Few stories capture Jerry Buss’s legacy quite like this one, because this is not about building a dynasty or winning championships. Recently, on a podcast, former Los Angeles Lakers trainer Gary Vitti revealed how Buss stepped in with a seven-figure gesture to fund Ronny Turiaf’s emergency heart surgery in 2005. That decision did more than keep a young player’s career alive. It gave him a second chance at life, one that led to a 12-year NBA career and a championship.
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“So we haven’t signed him to a contract, he’s up there, we get a call from that specialist,” Vitti said. “He said, ‘I’m not worried about him dying on the basketball court. I’m worried about him dropping dead, walking down the street today.’ How about that? We hadn’t even signed him yet. He had no healthcare insurance, and Gonzaga was done with him. We weren’t responsible for him… Now he needs a million-dollar surgery to save his life. Forget about playing basketball.”
“Dr. Buss ponied up cash out of his own pocket to save this kid’s life, not ever knowing if he would ever play basketball,” Vitti said on Byron Scott’s Fast Break, recalling how the situation unfolded just four weeks after the Lakers selected Turiaf with their 37th pick in the 2005 draft. During pre-draft medical checks, doctors discovered an enlarged aortic root, a life-threatening issue that required immediate attention, despite being cleared by doctors in both France and the NBA’s pre-draft camp.
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Howard Staniloff, a cardiologist at Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center in Inglewood, was quite surprised, as patients who underwent surgery for an enlarged aortic root were usually substantially older than Turiaf. He was also tested for Marfan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that can lead to a ruptured aorta, but the results were negative. Lakers spokesman John Black had told the media that doctors thought a return to basketball for Turiaf would be a “bonus.”
Turiaf’s NBA dream was suddenly in jeopardy after the Lakers were forced to void his contract. He underwent six-hour open-heart surgery in July 2005, and although doctors initially projected a long recovery timeline, the best-case scenario being one year, he returned far sooner than expected. By January 18, 2006, he re-signed with the Lakers (who retained his rights) and went on to appear in 23 games that season. Through it all, one thing never changed: his gratitude toward Dr. Jerry Buss.
How Ronny Turiaf never failed to show gratitude towards Jerry Buss during his Lakers tenure
Following the surgery, Ronny Turiaf went on to build a solid decade-long NBA career and was part of the Miami Heat’s championship run in 2012. Throughout his tenure with the Lakers, Turiaf always paid his respects to Buss at every home game. “I don’t think many people know this, but after every home game I played with the Lakers, I would see Dr. Buss in the Chairman’s Lounge. Just to make sure I acknowledged him. We had that unspoken language. He knew why I was coming to see him, and looked at me like, ‘I got you, son. You’re part of the family,” Turiaf shared in an interview years ago.
Buss probably insisted that the surgery should happen, despite it being paid from his own pocket, because one of Turiaf’s attending physicians had said there was a 75% chance he would have had a potentially fatal episode within a three- to four-year period.
Turiaf eventually retired in 2016 after a long NBA career and was inducted into the French Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020, but his story remains tied to one defining moment. Acts like this were not isolated for Buss, who was known for standing by his players beyond basketball, including his unwavering support for Magic Johnson after his HIV diagnosis. In Turiaf’s case, though, the impact was even more direct. Buss did not just invest in a player. He saved a life, and in doing so, left behind a legacy that went far beyond the game.
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Edited by
Ved Vaze