So, the other day, I was digging into the history of the Lakers, as one does, and I stumbled upon this whole Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss relationship saga. I mean, who knew, right? I always thought of Phil as just this legendary coach, but the dude’s got a whole romantic storyline intertwined with his coaching career.
I started by just casually searching for some info about Phil’s coaching timeline with the Lakers. That’s when I hit the first clue. Apparently, this whole thing started back in 1999. Imagine that, the year 1999. Simpler times, huh? Anyway, it turns out Phil, who had just been named the head coach of the Lakers, started dating Jeanie Buss around that time. I found this little tidbit in some article, but it didn’t say much more, so I kept digging.
Next, I went down this rabbit hole of reading Jeanie Buss’s memoir, “Laker Girl.” Man, that book’s got some stories. It confirmed the 1999 timeline and gave some more context. It was fascinating to read about their relationship from her perspective. They seemed to have a real connection, but the whole coach-owner’s daughter dynamic? That’s got to be complicated, right?
- First marriage: I found out Phil was married before, to someone named Maxine, from 1967 to 1972.
- Second marriage: Then he married June in 1974, but that ended in 2000.
- Meeting Jeanie: And then, bam, he met Jeanie in 1999.
I then bumped into some stuff about how their relationship lasted way longer than I initially thought. I saw somewhere that they were together for a whopping 16 years! And get this, they were even engaged for four years. Can you believe it? They broke off the engagement in 2016, but still, 16 years is a long time.
I even found some random article mentioning that Jeanie started dating someone else in 2017, but that’s a whole other story. It seems like the Phil and Jeanie saga was a significant chapter in both of their lives. It’s kind of wild to think about how this relationship unfolded alongside all the Lakers’ drama and championships during those years. It’s like a real-life sports drama, you know?
Relationship with the Rest of the Lakers
There’s a bit where Jerry West mentions his relationship with Phil, and it’s not pretty. West says, ‘Phil and I had no relationship,’ and that Phil didn’t want him around. Yikes! But that’s a whole other can of worms.
Anyway, it’s just crazy how these things play out behind the scenes. It makes you wonder what else we don’t know about the people we see on TV. And it shows how life’s personal and professional aspects can get all tangled up, especially in a high-profile world like professional sports.
So, yeah, that was my little deep dive into the Phil Jackson and Jeanie Buss relationship timeline. It started in 1999, lasted 16 years, and had a four-year engagement in between. Who would have thought?
