The Buss Family Is At War Over The Lakers: What Happened? - Page 8

For nearly half a century, the Buss name and the Los Angeles Lakers were practically inseparable. Dr. Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers, the Forum and the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings in 1979 for $67.5 million, then helped turn the basketball team into one of the most recognizable franchises in sports. When Buss died in 2013, his controlling interest in the Lakers passed to his six children —Jeanie, Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss — through family trusts. Jeanie, whom her father had positioned to lead the franchise, became the Lakers’ governor. But sharing ownership with five siblings meant that control of the family business was never quite as simple as one person calling all the shots.

In fact, the Buss family has been fighting over the Lakers for years. The most serious previous battle came in 2017, shortly after Jeanie fired her brother Jim as the team’s executive vice president of basketball operations. Jim and Johnny Buss subsequently made moves that Jeanie believed could remove her from the Lakers’ board and jeopardize her position as controlling owner, prompting her to go to court. The dispute eventually produced an important agreement: the family trust’s shares were supposed to be voted in a way that ensured Jeanie remained the Lakers’ controlling owner annually during her lifetime. That seven-word idea — Jeanie is supposed to stay in charge — is now at the heart of the family’s latest fight.

Things changed dramatically in June 2025, when the Buss family agreed to sell the Lakers to Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter and his TWG Global group for a franchise valuation of approximately $10 billion, then the largest valuation in a U.S. professional sports transaction. Walter was already familiar with the franchise after acquiring a minority stake in 2021. NBA owners approved the deal in October 2025, but the Buss family retained 17.8% of the Lakers, and importantly, Jeanie remained team governor under an arrangement expected to keep her in the position for at least five years.

Even that sale didn’t end the family drama. Joey and Jesse Buss, two of Jeanie’s younger brothers who had spent years working in the Lakers’ basketball operation, were fired in November 2025 as Walter began restructuring the organization. Joey had been the Lakers’ alternate governor, vice president of research and development and head of their G League operation, while Jesse served as assistant general manager and director of scouting. Their departures reportedly deepened existing tensions within the family, particularly after questions emerged about how the Walter transaction was handled and how much information Jeanie’s siblings received during the process.

Then came another bombshell. On August 12, 2026, less than a year after officially becoming the Lakers’ majority owner, Walter agreed to sell his controlling interest to venture capitalist Joshua Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger at a staggering $12.5 billion valuation, breaking the record Walter’s own Lakers purchase had just established. Kushner and Iger had previously explored pursuing a possible NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas before the Lakers suddenly became available. Their proposed transaction still requires approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors, with the league’s next scheduled meeting set for September. Walter’s sudden exit also comes while parts of his wider business empire face scrutiny from federal authorities and regulators, although neither Walter nor the Lakers has publicly said that scrutiny forced the sale.

At first, Jeanie appeared positioned to survive yet another ownership change. Then August 17 happened. ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Buss family had voted to sell its remaining 17.8% stake to Kushner and Iger at the same $12.5 billion valuation. According to ESPN, four of the six siblings were needed to trigger a “tag-along” provision connected to Walter’s sale, allowing the Buss family to sell its shares alongside Walter’s at the same valuation. Kushner and Iger are already purchasing roughly 65% of the franchise from Walter; acquiring the Buss shares would push their ownership to approximately 83%. ESPN also published a statement attributed to the Buss Family Trust saying the family had decided it was time to “move on and exit gracefully.”

There was just one major problem: Jeanie Buss says that isn’t what happened. Hours after the report, attorney Adam Streisand sent a letter on Jeanie’s behalf contesting the vote and arguing that any attempt to sell the Buss family’s remaining shares is legally void. According to the letter, Jeanie did not agree to the sale, and the transaction cannot be completed without action by the trust’s co-trustees. Streisand cited the 2017 agreement, which required the trust to maintain sufficient ownership so that Jeanie could remain the Lakers’ controlling owner. Because NBA rules require a governor in Jeanie’s position to hold at least a 15% ownership interest, selling the family’s entire 17.8% stake would effectively remove her from the position.

And that’s where the situation went from a complicated ownership dispute to an all-out family war. Streisand specifically accused Joey and Jesse Buss of feeding Charania false information and described it as part of what he alleges is a years-long effort to damage the Lakers while Jeanie remains in charge. Jeanie’s side says the ESPN report falsely presented all six Buss siblings as having voted to sell and maintains that her father’s trust requires the family to preserve her control. In other words, the disagreement isn’t merely over whether the family wants to cash out: it’s over whether Jeanie’s siblings legally have the power to force that outcome without her.

So, where does everything stand now? Walter’s agreement to sell his controlling interest to Kushner and Iger is still pending and requires NBA approval. The much messier question is whether the Buss family’s 17.8% can be included. Jeanie’s siblings believe the family’s voting provisions and the tag-along rights allow them to sell; Jeanie’s legal team argues the 2017 court-backed arrangement obligates the trust to preserve the minimum stake necessary to keep her in charge. Unless the sides reach an agreement, that question could wind up back in court. What began as another historic Lakers sale has turned into something much more personal: a fight over Jerry Buss’ wishes, Jeanie Buss’ future, and whether the family’s 47-year connection to the Lakers ends now — or continues through her.

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