PAGE 3: Sporty Types Here, Sports Titans Ahead

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Peter Guber looked around and mused that baseball locker rooms are a helluva lot bigger than the cozy commons area where the Los Angeles Kings strap on the gear before home games at Staples Center. … This report, by the way, is just an opener for some sporty stuff we’ll be rolling out between now and year’s end – all of it aiming toward our annual book of lists, which will include worthwhile profiles of Sports Titans to go with the usual trove of our proprietary rankings, which give the lay of the entire business landscape of L.A. … Guber wasn’t just guessing about the locker rooms – he’s part owner of the Dodgers, who have a feel of 1988 about them this October – although it would be even more fun in they had some Stunt Men on the roster … Guber doesn’t have to guess about what it feels like to get to the top of the mountain as an owner, either. He’s got a piece of the Golden State Warriors, and he wore one of the team’s NBA championship rings as he joined Jeanie Buss of the Lakers; Dan Beckerman, CEO of AEG, owner of the Kings and Galaxy; Dean Spanos, boss of the Chargers; Casey Wasserman, who’s looking after the 2028 Olympic Games; and Mark “Tryndamere” Merrill, cofounder of Riot Games, to strike a group pose deep in the heart of Staples. … You might not immediately recognize Merrill or Riot Games or its League of Legends – but Guber does (see related coverage, page 6). … Buss also wore a championship ring, by the way, although hers was modest in size and in fashionable proportion. Buss said it was from the Lakers 2000 team, and that fit the location of the shoot, since that championship came in the first year the team called the arena home. … Buss could have adorned all of her fingers and both thumbs with Lakers rings, by the way, not to mention the Sparks. … She was quick to add that she’ll make room for more. “You don’t ever want to close off possibilities,” Buss said. … She also flashed some deep knowledge of franchise history when someone complimented her on her blouse and asked if it was “Forum Blue.” That was a Jack Kent Cooke term, she said, quite correctly, adding that her late father just called it Lakers purple. … Beckerman left his two Stanley Cup rings and a few more from the Galaxy at home – but who needs the flash when they’re getting the cash – something his outfit gets as landlord to three of the teams represented at the shoot – Buss’ Lakers and Sparks, as well as the Chargers, who play for now at the StubHub Center in Carson, also part of the AEG portfolio. … This bunch of sports execs will be joined by several more for our Sports Titans coverage, so stay tuned for sneak previews in coming weeks. … Sullivan Says: I’ll get the “L” out of here on future mentions on Glaser Weil – the extra “L” that made it into this space last week, anyway.

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