What appeared to be the end of the Buss family’s 47-year ownership of the Lakers has turned into another family fight.
Hours after ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday that the Buss Family Trust had received enough votes to sell its remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers to incoming majority owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, an attorney representing Jeanie Buss challenged the reported transaction.
Adam F. Streisand, Buss’ attorney, called the characterization of the sale “false” in a letter sent to attorneys representing other Buss family members and obtained by CNBC.
Streisand specifically disputed that Jeanie participated in a family vote to sell the remaining shares and maintained that a 2017 court order protects her position as controlling owner.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne also reported that Jeanie did not vote for the sale.
Suddenly, a transaction that seemed poised to formally end the Buss era isn’t so simple.
Jeanie Buss Challenges Family’s Lakers Sale
Getty Siblings Joey and Jesse Buss (in black hat), from left, were kicked out of the Lakers front office last year.
Charania reported that at least five of Jerry Buss’ six children voted to sell. Four votes were required to trigger a tag-along provision connected to Mark Walter’s $12.5 billion sale to Iger and Kushner.
Jeanie’s side argues that a majority vote doesn’t necessarily settle the matter.
Streisand cited a 2017 Los Angeles Superior Court order instructing the trust’s co-trustees to take reasonable actions to ensure Jeanie is elected controlling owner annually during her lifetime unless a court orders otherwise.
“No sale of the JAB Trust’s 17.8% ownership interest” can occur without approval from the current co-trustees, Streisand wrote.
The attorney demanded that Jeanie’s siblings publicly affirm that she remains the controlling owner and take no action on the reported vote.
The dispute rekindles a familiar family battle. In 2017, Jeanie went to court after brothers Jim and Johnny Buss called a board meeting she viewed as an attempt to remove her. That fight ultimately cemented her control of the franchise.
Buss Family Tensions Boiled Over Before Iger-Kushner Deal
GettyJim Buss and his sister Jeanie Buss of the Los Angeles Lakers attend a news conference where Dwight Howard was introduced as the newest member of the team at the Toyota Sports Center on August 10, 2012 in El Segundo, California.
Monday’s dispute didn’t emerge from nowhere.
ESPN reported several Buss siblings remained frustrated with Jeanie over last year’s $10 billion sale to Walter, believing they were pressured into approving a rushed transaction. All six ultimately voted for it.
The deal preserved Jeanie’s position as governor through 2030, but her siblings were subsequently terminated from their Lakers positions.
Then came another extraordinary twist.
According to ESPN, Lakers senior vice president of finance Joe McCormack called an emergency meeting of the Buss siblings last Monday to discuss dissolving the existing family trust and obtaining unanimous approval to place the family’s shares into a new trust for four years.
The timing proved striking.
One day later, ESPN reported Walter had agreed to sell his controlling interest to Iger and Kushner at a record $12.5 billion valuation.
Jeanie Buss Could Stand in Way of Lakers Sale
GettyJeanie Buss attends the Los Angeles Clippers & Comcast NBCUniversal’s NBA All-Star Legendary Tip-Off Celebration on February 13, 2026 in Los Angeles, California.
The proposed sale of the Buss family’s remaining shares would give the Iger-Kushner group roughly 83% ownership. It would also drop Jeanie below the NBA’s 15% ownership requirement to remain governor.
But neither transaction is finished.
The sale still requires NBA Board of Governors approval, and the league’s next board meeting is scheduled for Sept. 15-16 in New York. Kushner also must sell his minority interest in the Miami Heat before approval.
Now there could be another obstacle before the Buss shares ever change hands: Jeanie herself.
Jerry Buss built the Lakers into one of sports’ most recognizable franchises and structured his succession plan to keep control within his family.
Nearly five decades after he bought the team, his children are fighting over its future again.
And this time, they’re fighting over whether the Buss era is actually over.
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