The Los Angeles Lakers’ entire basketball operations department is completely stalled out right now, and it’s all thanks to their messy ownership drama. Seriously, they cannot move forward with their planned front office changes until this whole situation blows over. We’re talking about two assistant general manager hires, one focused on analytics and another on player scouting, just sitting in limbo because the team cannot finalize anything.
A Historic Sale Hits a Concrete Wall
This whole mess is coming at the worst time, too, deep into the offseason when teams are usually locking down their plans. The Athletic’s Dan Woike reported the holdup is directly tied to the ownership situation. Just last week, Mark Walter sold the Lakers for a historic $12.5 billion valuation to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. That’s a massive number, and it looked like a done deal, right? Iger and Kushner then announced plans to snag the remaining 17.8% ownership from the Buss family. Everyone thought the Buss family, after nearly five decades, was finally moving on.
Jeanie Buss Throws a Wrench in the Works
But hold up, because Jeanie Buss, the team’s current governor, had other ideas. CNBC’s Alex Sherman dropped the bombshell that Jeanie did *not* vote for the sale of the team, unlike her five siblings. Her lawyer made it crystal clear in a letter to her siblings’ lawyer: “No sale of the JAB Trust’s 17.8% ownership interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. can be effectuated without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.” This is huge, because it means the co-trustees are “bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain Controlling Owner.” She’s fighting to keep her role, and if her family’s stake goes, she’s out.
This opposition from Jeanie Buss could kick off a super long legal battle, completely derailing any immediate plans Iger and Kushner have for the team. Iger told Khobi Price of the California Post last week that it’s “premature to speculate at all about what we plan to do, because frankly, we haven’t made any plans yet.” Sounds like that’s still true. Until this ownership fight is resolved, the Lakers’ front office is stuck in neutral, and who knows how long that’s going to last. What a disaster for what should be a straightforward offseason!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Bleacher Report.
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