Jeanie Buss sat down for an interview recently to answer all the burning questions about the NBA’s biggest names. Naturally, Michael Jordan came up. As far as NBA franchises go, Buss and Jordan are rivals. While she sits at the head of the Los Angeles Lakers organization, Jordan spent his entire NBA playing career with the Chicago Bulls. Their affiliations, though, didn’t stop them from getting into a professional partnership.
MJ has expanded the Jordan Brand’s umbrella to a variety of domains. One of his biggest money-makers is his tequila brand, Cincoro. And he runs that with other NBA execs. Jeanie Buss dished on working with ‘His Airness’.
Jeanie Buss partners with Michael Jordan
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Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss answered questions on athletes well beyond the Lakers, including Michael Jordan. As fellow NBA execs, they’re rivals. But they have something in common. And that led them to form a profitable business partnership.
Michael Jordan runs a variety of businesses under the Jordan Brand. One of them is his tequila company, Cincoro. MJ collaborated with Buss as well as Milwaukee Bucks‘ Wes Edens and Emilia Fazzalari and Boston Celtics‘ Wyc Grousbeck to release a new blend, Cincoro Gold.
At the launch of this blend, Jordan said that their partnership came to be when the group of billionaires discovered they love to kick back with tequila as much as they enjoy basketball. Jordan remains the face of the brand, promoting it internationally and making it popular.
Cincoro Gold is the fifth blend under the parent company. This new blend is aimed towards a luxury market and is priced at $350 a pop. This means these NBA owners are making a pretty buck with MJ.
Jeanie Buss talks about working with MJ
Interviewers couldn’t miss the chance to ask Jeanie Buss how the owners of rival NBA teams formed an off-court partnership. Her answer was similar to Jordan’s.
Buss and Jordan were working in a committee with Edens and Grousbeck, overseeing the labor agreement in 2016. Fazzalari is Edens’ wife, who would join their business venture.
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“We found out we had a common interest in being fans of tequila. We thought we’d create a tequila that we’d like and would want to drink. That’s really all our intention was when we came up with Cincoro,” she narrated. She went on to credit the little cameo a glass of Cincoro had in Jordan’s The Last Dance documentary with popularizing the brand.
Despite being rivals, they formed a strong friendship. Buss potently makes the point by saying, “The message for me is that if you don’t have a rival to push you, do you ever reach your full potential?”
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Jordan sold his majority stake in the Hornets this year. While he still remains a partner with his Cincoro buddies, Buss conveyed she’d miss him in the NBA meetings and the energy he brings. “It seems like everything he gets involved with, he knows how to win.” No truer words to describe Michael Jordan have been spoken.
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