Jeanie Buss, her lawyer, push back on report Buss family to sell remaining stake in Lakers

The original report was stunning: The Buss family had voted and planned to sell its remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers to incoming owners Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger. That sale would mean the Buss family's ownership of the team, which started in 1979, would be completely over. The end of an era. With that, Jeanie Buss would have to step down as the team's governor (a role that requires at least a 15% ownership stake, by league rules). Then came a follow-up report saying the other five Buss siblings had approached Jeanie Buss and asked for the sale, forcing a vote that approved the move. Within hours of that report, Jeanie Buss and her attorney, Adam Streisand of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton Law, pushed back against that. Streisand sent a strongly worded letter to the attorney for the other siblings — obtained by CNBC — stating that previous legal rulings made that move impossible. From the letter: "[No selling of the] 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. 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. 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." The six Buss siblings — Jeanie Buss, Jim Buss, Johnny Buss, Janie Buss, Joey Buss, and Jesse Buss (all children of the late owner Jerry Buss) — own their shares together through what has been described to NBC Sports as an incredibly complex trust. The upshot is that they do not own an individual percentage and would have to sell as a group — and agree to do so. The day the news broke of the $12.5 billion sale of the team from Walter to Kushner and Iger, they said they intended to honor Walter's agreement with Jeanie Buss and keep her on as governor. Well, "If things change, they'll change," Iger added. It's not hard to determine the motivations here. Jeanie Buss has kept a key role in the family business and is not looking to step away and give that up. Family members outside that circle feel differently. About the only thing certain in another Buss family drama is that the big winners will be lawyers billing by the hour.