The Buss family announced Monday they are fully divesting their stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, putting nearly 50 years of family ownership to an end. This is a massive shake-up, part of a staggering $12.5 billion sale of the team to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, which includes the family’s remaining 17.8% share. But hold up, because this deal is already hitting a major snag, and it’s coming from inside the house.
The Family Divided: “Not So Fast” on a $12.5 Billion Deal
The Buss family’s statement, shared with ESPN’s Shams Charania, laid out the plan: “We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction.” They even threw in the classic, “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.” Sounds like a clean break, right? Wrong. Jeanie Buss, the team’s governor and the face of Lakers ownership since her father Jerry’s passing in 2013, did not sign off on that statement or the reported sale agreement. Her attorney, Adam Streisand, sent a letter to her siblings’ lawyers that just blew this whole thing wide open. Jeanie considers the reported sale “void.” Why? Because Streisand’s letter, obtained by multiple media outlets, states that any sale of the Buss stake needs Jeanie’s approval, and she hasn’t given it. The letter explicitly says, “No sale of the JAB Trusts’s 17.8% ownership interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. can be effected without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e. Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.” This isn’t just a business transaction, it’s a full-blown family feud among Jerry Buss’s six kids, with legal battles brewing.
From Humble Beginnings to NBA Dynasty Builders
It’s a wild turn for a franchise that was literally built by family vision. Jerry Buss wasn’t born with a silver spoon. He came from humble beginnings, born in Salt Lake City in 1933 during the Great Depression, raised by a divorced mother who worked as a waitress. He earned degrees from the University of Wyoming and USC, including a masters and PhD in physical chemistry by age 24. But his real genius was in real estate. In 1959, he invested a thousand bucks into a 14-unit apartment building in West Los Angeles, kicking off a career that eventually made him a fortune. That fortune allowed him to scoop up the Lakers, the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, and The Forum in Inglewood from Jack Kent Cooke in 1979. The whole package, including a 13,000-acre ranch, cost him $67.5 million. The NBA itself valued the Lakers portion at a mere $16 million back then. Can you believe that bargain now? The Lakers already had six championships by then, but only one since 1954, and the NBA itself was struggling, with poor TV ratings even forcing some NBA Finals games onto tape delay. Jerry Buss turned that struggling league into a behemoth, and now, his family’s trying to sell the empire.
What happens next? With Jeanie Buss calling the shots on approval, this $12.5 billion sale is far from a done deal. The future of Lakers ownership is tangled in a family drama that just went public, and everyone in the league is watching how this plays out.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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