Jeanie Buss intervenes after siblings’ plan to sell LA Lakers stake to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger

A dispute within the Buss family over their remaining stake in the Lakers continued on Tuesday after an attorney for team governor Jeanie Buss dismissed an announcement that the family agreed to sell its shares as “false, defamatory and pernicious.”

The conflict between the siblings became public Monday after ESPN reported that the six Buss siblings—Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse—voted to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% ownership in the franchise to prospective majority owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner.

Iger and Kushner announced plans last week to acquire a controlling interest in the team from current owner Mark Walter for $12.5 billion—a record sum for an NBA franchise.

In a statement to ESPN, the Buss family said, “We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction. We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”

On Monday afternoon, however, an attorney for Jeanie Buss wrote to lawyers for her siblings demanding a retraction of the sale announcement, maintaining that family trust regulations and a 2017 court ruling guarantee she remains controlling owner for life.

According to the letter from Jeanie Buss’ attorney Adam Streisand, obtained by media outlets including ESPN and the California Post, “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.”

Streisand wrote: “On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed ‘vote’ to sell the 17.8% stake.”

The letter described the announcement as “just the latest instance of a years-long pattern whereby Joey and Jesse Buss leak false, defamatory and pernicious `information’ … for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Dr. (Jerry) Buss’ chosen successor, Jeanie Buss, carries out her father’s wishes.”

If such a sale goes through, Jeanie Buss would be stripped of her role as team governor, which requires maintaining a 15% ownership threshold in the franchise. She has served as team governor since 2013 following the death of her father, Jerry Buss.

Jeanie Buss was the sole sibling not to vote to sell on Monday, and multiple sources informed ESPN that she did not respond to the family vote.

Iger is the former chief executive officer of the Walt Disney Co., while Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, who is married to President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.

ESPN reported that Kushner and Iger were originally set to buy 65% of the team from Walter. Purchasing the Buss family stake would bring their total ownership to approximately 83%.

The transaction remains subject to approval by the NBA Board of Governors, scheduled to gather Sept. 15-16 in New York.

Jerry Buss acquired the Lakers in 1979 for $67.5 million in a deal including the NHL’s Kings and The Forum. He sold his controlling interest in the Kings in 1988 and the Kia Forum in 1999. Following his death in 2013, franchise ownership passed to his children, with Jeanie Buss serving as team governor.

Under the Buss family’s stewardship, the Lakers built one of the premier legacies in sports, winning 11 NBA titles, most recently in 2020.

Leadership clashes among the siblings have recurred since Jerry Buss’ death. Jim Buss was removed from basketball operations in 2017, initiating a probate court fight over team control that produced the ruling cited by Jeanie Buss’ attorney against the proposed stake sale.

Certain siblings also opposed last year’s sale to Walter. Joey and Jesse Buss were subsequently removed from their front-office positions with the team, though they retained minority shares.