The assassination of Victor Weiss, which was the most unbelievable thing that had happened thus far on HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, was going to cause a few eyebrows to be raised. In 1979, after a meeting with Jerry Buss to finalize a transaction for his close friend and client Jerry Tarkanian, Victor Weiss was brutally killed, and his body was then hidden inside Jerry Buss’s trunk. The basketball club from Las Vegas would have sent its coach to the Los Angeles Lakers if the transaction had been finalized.
The government believes the mob killed. According to the documentary that aired on HBO, the hit was carried out to keep Tarkanian employed at UNLV. The criterion coming in was, for the things that are going to make the audience’s jaws drop and think, Hey, this couldn’t possibly have happened, those things have to be 100%, said writer/executive producer Max Borenstein of the Vic Weiss incident.
How did Victor Weiss meet his ultimate death?
Tarkanian and Victor Weiss received their high school education at the same Pasadena, California, institution. He developed a strong relationship with the coach and eventually agreed to negotiate on the coach’s behalf. On his road to becoming a sports promoter, Victor succeeded in the real estate and insurance businesses. Ultimately, he decided to pursue a career in sports promotion.
On June 14, 1979, Victor discussed the possibility of the Los Angeles Lakers hiring Tarkarian to serve as the team’s head coach with Jerry Buss and Jack Kent Cooke. His Rolls-Royce was the final vehicle seen following him as he drove from the hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where the conference was. He was meant to have supper with his wife, Rose, but he didn’t show up. She was disappointed.
After Victor’s wife filed a missing person report for him on June 17, 1979, his automobile was discovered in the parking lot of a hotel in North Hollywood, California, the following day. A blanket had been wrapped over him when he was discovered in the vehicle’s trunk. His wrists were bound behind his back, and his body weakened rapidly. Using his fingerprints established the identification of Victor Weiss after the police could not uncover any more identifying information for him. Nothing else in the car may have provided any more clues to the authorities about who the killer was.
The fact that Victor had two gunshot wounds, one to the back of his head and one to his temple, was evidence that he had been executed. When the police arrived, they were first perplexed since just Victor’s cash and credit cards had been taken, but Victor’s diamond ring and watch had been left on his person. As a result, it was decided that there would not be theft. The authorities are no closer to solving the mystery of who was responsible for the murder. You can watch the Winning Time on the HBO Max streaming service.
