LOS ANGELES — The forecast called for rain, yet Los Angeles surprised us, as it usually does. It was a picturesque Wednesday afternoon in the City of Angels, a place that is totally focused on Lakers basketball because the Dodgers and Angels are six weeks from their first games.

A basketball-crazed city is mourning the loss of its leader, Jerry Buss, the Lakers owner who died on Monday at age 80, ending a magnificent 34-year run with one of the preeminent sports franchises.