In 2006, Jerry Buss made one thing clear about the future of the Los Angeles Lakers. The legendary owner, who had spent decades building the franchise into a basketball powerhouse, could not imagine the team belonging to anyone outside his family.
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“I cannot foresee the fact that anybody but our family will have the Lakers.”
Nearly two decades later, that vision is at the center of a bitter family dispute. Jeanie Buss is asking a California judge to block her five siblings from selling the family’s remaining stake in the Lakers, accusing them of using secret votes and a media campaign to undermine her leadership.
The latest court filing brings the Buss family closer to a decision that could end its nearly five-decade ownership of the franchise. At stake is not just a $12.5 billion transaction, but a legal battle over who gets to decide the Lakers’ future.
Jeanie Buss Turns to Court as Lakers Ownership Battle Intensifies
Jeanie’s latest filing accuses her siblings of conducting secret votes and sharing resolutions with ESPN before informing their co-trustee and sister. Her attorneys argue that the move was designed to force her hand and weaken her position in the media.
“The cloak and dagger, backroom ‘votes’ and ‘resolutions’ shared with ESPN rather than their co-trustee and sister, and subsequent refusal to discuss the matter, was intended to force Jeanie’s hand, cry victim and again smear her in the media by sharing in advance their specious response,” the filing asserted.
The dispute centers on the family’s remaining 17.82% stake in the Lakers. Under the proposed transaction, the stake would be sold to the investment group led by Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, completing the family’s exit from the franchise.
The five siblings, Jesse, Joey, Janie, Jim, and Johnny Buss, have voted to exercise their “go-along” rights and sell the family’s shares. Jeanie abstained from the vote, leaving her on the opposite side of the decision from the rest of her family.
The $371 Million Question Behind the Buss Family Feud
The sale would give each of the six Buss children an estimated $371 million. For the siblings, the transaction represents an opportunity to cash out their investment in one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world.
But Jeanie believes selling now would mean giving up a stake that could be worth considerably more in the future. Her legal team argues that the Lakers’ valuation could rise to $30 billion over the next decade, making the current sale a poor financial decision for the trust’s beneficiaries.
The projection comes from an investor presentation circulated by Kushner’s Thrive Capital. It assumes substantial growth in media rights fees and should not be treated as a guaranteed future valuation.
Jeanie’s position is that retaining the family’s stake would create greater long-term value for everyone involved. Her siblings, however, argue that they have the right to sell their shares and should not be forced to maintain ownership simply to preserve her position as governor.
Their October 16 court filing made that disagreement clear.
“There is deep irony in [Jeanie] alleging that it is [Joey and Janie] who are putting their self-interests first. The entire petition is predicated on the notion that rights expressly granted to the beneficiaries by [the trust] should be subjugated to [Jeanie’s] personal interest in remaining controlling owner. [Jeanie’s] hypocrisy should not go unnoticed.”
The argument puts the family’s financial future and Jeanie’s position at the center of the same dispute. While her siblings want to exercise their right to sell, Jeanie believes their decision could undermine the very trust they are supposed to protect.
The 2017 Court Order That Could Decide the Lakers’ Future
The legal battle goes back to 2017, when Jeanie’s older brothers, Jim and Johnny Buss, attempted to remove her from the organization. The dispute ended with a court order requiring the family’s co-trustees to take all reasonably available actions to keep Jeanie in control of the Lakers.
The order stated that the co-trustees were required to take “all actions reasonably available to them, including voting the Trust’s shares” to ensure Jeanie was elected as controlling owner and director on an annual basis during her lifetime.
That order is now the foundation of Jeanie’s legal petition. She argues that selling the family’s remaining stake would violate the agreement and undermine her ability to remain governor.
Her attorneys have also asked the court to remove Janie and Joey Buss as co-trustees, alleging that they breached their fiduciary duties by supporting the sale.
The siblings disagree with that interpretation. They argue that the 2017 order was issued in the context of a board election dispute and does not permanently prevent the trust from selling its assets.
Their position is that the trust gives beneficiaries the right to sell their shares through a two-thirds majority vote. With five of the six siblings voting in favor, they believe the sale should proceed.
Why the NBA’s 15% Rule Matters to Jeanie Buss
The ownership dispute has become even more complicated because of the NBA’s rules for team governors. The league requires a governor to hold at least a 15% ownership stake in the franchise.
The Buss family trust currently owns 17.82% of the Lakers, allowing Jeanie to meet that threshold under the family’s ownership arrangement. Selling the entire stake would bring the family’s collective ownership below the required level.
That would effectively strip Jeanie of her controlling role and leave the franchise under the leadership of the incoming investment group.
The NBA Board of Governors would still need to approve the transaction before it could be finalized. Kushner must also divest his minority ownership stake in the Miami Heat before completing the Lakers purchase.
While the sale structure has reportedly been finalized, the Buss family dispute remains an unresolved obstacle to the transfer of control.
Jerry Buss’ Legacy Is at the Center of the Ownership Battle
The disagreement is also deeply personal for Jeanie. Her legal team argues that the current conflict stems from her father’s decision to choose her as his successor after his death in 2013.
“The conflicts that ensued after Dr. [Jerry] Buss’s death were sadly inevitable, and no doubt intensified given that Dr. Buss chose his daughter over four sons to be his successor,” the court documents stated.
“Respondents’ obsession with tearing down Jeanie and their inability to accept that she would be a part of the Lakers’ future is borne of this classic succession parable.”
The filing also points to the 2025 transaction, in which Mark Walter purchased a majority stake in the Lakers at a then-record $10 billion valuation. Jeanie’s attorneys argue that her siblings were unhappy with the deal she helped arrange, even as they pushed for the family to sell its remaining stake.
“While jealously wringing their hands that Jeanie had struck this remarkable deal, Respondents also clamored for the sale, expressing their certitude that no one would ever pay that price again,” the filing stated.
Jeanie’s position is that the Lakers’ value will continue to rise and that the trust’s beneficiaries would benefit more from retaining their ownership stake than from selling it now.
What Happens Next in the Lakers Ownership Battle?
The Buss siblings are scheduled to appear in Los Angeles Superior Court on December 8, where a judge will consider Jeanie’s request to block the sale and enforce the 2017 court order.
The judge could grant Jeanie’s request and prevent the trust from selling its shares, deny her petition and allow the transaction to proceed, or narrow the issues and send the family back to settlement talks.
For now, the ownership battle remains unresolved. The sale could mark the end of the Buss family’s nearly five-decade control of the Lakers, but Jeanie is determined to keep her father’s legacy alive.
Her latest filing makes clear that she is prepared to fight the transaction in court, even as the rest of her family moves toward a complete exit from the franchise.