Everything we know about Lakers' Jeanie Buss’ dispute with siblings over sale

The Los Angeles Lakers are for sale once again. The Buss family, the franchise's longtime owners, sold their controlling stake to Mark Walter in 2025. Now, the team will have yet another controlling owner, as Walter has reportedly agreed to sell the team to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and current Miami Heat minority owner Josh Kushner for $12.5 billion. As part of the sale, the Buss Family Trust — comprised of current Lakers governor Jeanie Buss and her siblings Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse — has agreed to sell its remaining 17.8 percent ownership stake. However, not everyone in the family is on board. Jeanie Buss opposing sale of Lakers minority stake Jeanie Buss has formally opposed the sale, arguing in a letter to her siblings that any decision to sell — in which she was reportedly outvoted five to one — "would be and is void." Buss' lawyer, Adam Streisand, contended that Buss remains the controlling owner under a 2017 court order and that a sale can't occur without her approval. “No sale of the JAB Trust’s 17.8 percent 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. Pursuant to the JAB Trust and the attached Court Order, 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,” Streisand said in the letter, which CNBC obtained. “Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court." Sale could cost Jeanie Buss her role as Lakers governor As Streisand mentions in the letter, a sale would put Buss' stake below the 15 percent threshold required to maintain her status as controlling owner, a role she has held since her father, Jerry Buss, died in 2013. As part of the agreement with Walter, Buss was allowed to remain in her position until 2030. Her siblings, however, were terminated from their positions with the organization in the months that followed the sale. Initial sale to Mark Walter may have created rift The family disagreement may stem from the initial sale to Walter. According to an ESPN report, Jeanie Buss' siblings felt misled during the sale, which they considered rushed. They also reportedly felt "pressured" to agree to sell the team, which they ultimately did unanimously. The sale to Iger and Kushner is yet to be approved by the NBA's board of governors, but it seems there may be some other hurdles it needs to clear as well. This article originally appeared on For The Win: Everything we know about Lakers' Jeanie Buss’ dispute with siblings over sale