Jeanie Buss …Will You Marry Me?

LA Times: Jeanie Buss, Jackson’s companion and a Laker executive vice president, campaigned for his comeback from the moment Rudy Tomjanovich resigned in February, firing off urgent e-mails to Jackson while he vacationed in Australia, and, over the next few months, reminding him that 59 was too young to retire.

“I just have never seen him so up for a challenge,” she said. “I think it’s going to take some time to see all this come together, but it’s been nothing but a pleasant experience. I see such a lightness to him and such a happiness. I have to assume that things at work are going really well.”

“I’m as eager as anybody for the regular season to start and see what we’ve got going for ourselves but I’m also very aware of the fact that, if things don’t go well, how quickly people will turn on Phil,” Buss said. “Phil is by no means the savior, and I don’t think that he has ever presented himself as the savior, but I just know how hard an NBA season is, and Phil has his work cut out for him. I’m not going to be the person to say that now, all is right with the world. I know that people will one day love him and the next day boo him. That’s the nature of being a coach.

“Phil wasn’t afraid to take this job. Everybody can talk about our roster. Phil sees something that was worth coming back to this job. We’ve got Kobe Bryant, the best player in the NBA.”

There’s always that one final issue: Has Jackson popped the question?

“I feel so bad that it’s become such an issue [publicly],” Buss said. “There’s nothing on the horizon. It’s probably never going to happen. But if Phil said to me, ‘Jeanie you can have one of two things: One, we can get married, or two, I’ll come back and coach the Lakers,’ I would say my wish is for you to come back and coach the Lakers. I’ve gotten my wish to come true. Hopefully he’ll be giving me another championship ring.”

So who here wants to marry Jeanie Buss? Do you think she and brother Jimmy can run the team once Jerry calls it quits? Sound off in our CL.com Forums!