**** attended college at University of Southern California (USC), majoring in math before he dropped out. He spent much of his youth at race tracks. Although he stood 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m), **** attended jockey school when he was 20.
**** became president of the Los Angeles Lazers in 1985 after his brother Johnny had quit. He brought annual losses down from $1 million to $500,000, but the team folded in 1989. He next became a horse trainer, receiving from his father the half-dozen thoroughbreds he owned. In 1997, Jerry divested himself of his horse racing stock that was increasingly unprofitable. Shortly after, he invited his son to join the Lakers.
**** started with the Lakers in 1998 as an assistant general manager to Jerry West. He provided an infamous to Sports Illustrated for its November 1998 issue. "Evaluating basketball talent is not too difficult," **** said. "If you grabbed 10 fans out of a bar and asked them to rate prospects, their opinions would be pretty much identical to those of the pro scouts." He later said he was trying to compliment Lakers scouts, who faced a challenge with the team usually picking late in the NBA Draft compared to the consensus that he believed existed with lottery picks.