Lakers owner Jeanie Buss shares vile racist letter addressed to her

Joe Rivera

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Lakers owner Jeanie Buss shares vile racist letter addressed to her image

Jeanie Buss is shining light on some horrific words. 

The Lakers owner shared a short but grotesque letter addressed to her on Juneteenth from a fan. The short note insults the late Kobe Bryant and refers to Buss as a "whore."

With the posting of the letter, she also called to action her "white friends" to fight against racism.

(Warning: while redacted, letter contains offensive language.)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

After much thought, I decided to share this letter I received on Monday so that everyone can see the hate is real and living out there. This is happening in our world TODAY. Its real and it exists. To Joe: Did sending this letter make you feel better?  Really all you did was waste your time, and energy and your postage stamp. (But thank you for including your return home address) Why don’t you look in the mirror and see your ugliness because I refuse to. I have received letters like this over the years. The advice I always got? “Ignore it.” I did. But not anymore. On this day, Juneteenth, I ask my white friends to join together, acknowledge the racism that exists in our country and around the world, and pledge to stop ignoring it. We all must do better. #juneteenth #hatewontwin

A post shared by Jeanie Buss (@jeaniebuss) on

After much thought, I decided to share this letter I received on Monday so that everyone can see the hate is real and living out there. This is happening in our world TODAY. Its real and it exists. 

To Joe: Did sending this letter make you feel better? Really all you did was waste your time, and energy and your postage stamp. (But thank you for including your retune home address) Why don't you look in the mirror and see your ugliness because I refuse to. I have received letters like this over the years. The advice I alays got? "Ignore it." I did. But not anymore. On this day, Juneteenth, I ask my white friends to join together, acknowledge the racism that exists in our country and around the world, and pledge to stop ignoring it. We all must do better.

Buss, who has been in the Lakers organization for over two decades, was given support from Lakers and NBA players for sharing the letter:

In 2005, Sporting News named Buss one of the 20 most influential women in sports.

Joe Rivera

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Joe Rivera is in his seventh year with The Sporting News, handling NFL, MLB and some things pro wrestling. A proud-ish Rutgers University graduate, Rivera combines a new-school flair with an old-school soul. He loves dingers, wrestling, comic books, movies, music and really bad puns. He is also a card-carrying BBWAA member and teaches Multimedia Sports Reporting at his alma mater.

You can find him and tweet him @JoeRiveraSN, if you're into that sort of thing.