“I Don’t Know That Any Transaction Has Actually Happened”: Lakers Sale to Iger-Kushner in Question After Jeanie Buss Drama

The unexpected change of hands with the Los Angeles Lakers got another plot twist that could power a whole new season of Running Point. The historic 47-year tenure of the Buss family’s control over the franchise has hit a sudden legal wall, with Jeanie Buss on the verge of fighting her siblings. Following reports that five Buss siblings voted to sell their remaining 17.8% minority stake to incoming majority owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner at a record $12.5 billion valuation, ESPN senior writer Ramona Shelburne clarified on ESPN LA (710 AM) that no official deal has been closed.

Highlighting the legal nuance behind the reported agreement, Shelburne addressed the initial reporting surrounding the vote.

“But I just want to point out, I believe in reading Shams’ reporting and in my own reporting confirming what Shams had this morning was to authorize a sale to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner,” Shelburne explained. “I don’t know that any transaction has actually happened. It’s just part of the tag-along provision in the sale to Mark Walter that goes back to that, if that makes sense.”

Show host D’Marco Farr echoed the sentiment that the situation is far from resolved. “Well, I know this for sure, there’s no end in sight,” the host remarked. “If Jeanie is fighting this, then I’m sure you and I and everyone else here at 710, we’re going to be talking about this for quite some time.”

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The drama stems from an internal family rift in the aftermath of the Lakers’ second consecutive sale in a year. Jeanie Buss abstained from the vote, leaving her five siblings — Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey, and Jesse — to invoke a tag-along provision tied to Mark Walter’s sale of his controlling stake to Iger and Kushner.

The dispute centers on whether her siblings have the legal authority to force a transaction without Jeanie’s consent, even though she remained governor of the franchise despite the $10 billion sale to Walter last year.

In a letter obtained by CNBC and ESPN, Jeanie Buss’ attorney, Adam Streisand, argued that a 2017 court ruling dictates no sale can be “effectuated without approval by the co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.”

Shelburne clarifies that while the five Buss siblings voted to authorize a sale to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, that does not mean an actual transaction has occurred. The “tag-along provision” implies that this could be an extension of the original sale to Walter and not an independent deal.

Streisand asserted that the co-trustees are legally obligated to vote in a manner that preserves the minimum 15% ownership threshold required by NBA guidelines for Jeanie to remain the team’s Controlling Owner.

Under league rules, if the family’s 17.8% share is relinquished, Jeanie would no longer hold the requisite equity stake to serve as governor.

Streisand warned that any attempt by the siblings to bypass this requirement constitutes “a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

Despite a public statement from the family expressing their desire to “exit gracefully while we still can,” internal tension had reportedly been brewing since an emergency meeting called by Lakers VP of Finance Joe McCormack to lock down family shares under a new trust.

While Bob Iger previously indicated an intention to honor Jeanie’s governorship through 2030, he noted to the California Post, “If something changes, then it changes.” With the NBA Board of Governors approval still pending for September, this might be the change that could end the Buss era in LA.

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