The long-simmering family drama surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers has spilled back into the courtroom. In a joint legal response filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, five of the six Buss siblings — Jimmy, Johnny, Janie, Joey, and Jesse Buss — formally mounted their counterattack against their sister, Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss. Their response directly challenges her attempts to block the sale of the family’s remaining minority stake in the storied franchise, which would be worth about $2.2 billion, to the Joshua Kushner-Bob Iger group.
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In a direct joint statement issued to the media the five siblings fired back at Jeanie’s petition to stop the transaction, asserting that her legal challenge lacks both factual and legal grounding.
“Jimmy, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss, the five of six siblings who voted to sell the Trust’s shares in the Lakers, today filed their formal opposition, demonstrating that Jeanie Buss’s petition is legally and factually baseless,” the siblings said in the statement. “While discussions among the siblings continue, their focus remains on facilitating the proposed transaction and the [Buss family] trust’s participation in it, while ensuring that all beneficiaries, including Jeanie, are treated equally. Today’s filing is a necessary step to protect those interests and ensure the transaction proceeds on schedule.”
The court response represents the latest chapter in an escalating ownership feud that threatens to end Jeanie Buss’s decades-long leadership of the franchise.
Lakers’ multi-billion-dollar sale turns into Jeanie Buss’ fight for control
The rapid change of hands in Lakers ownership has escalated the old feud among the Buss siblings. About 14 months after he agreed to buy the team for $10 billion, Dodgers mogul Mark Walter sold his majority stake at a record-breaking $12.5 billion valuation to an ownership group led by venture capitalist Joshua Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger. Initially, Kushner and Iger said they’d honor Walter’s prior arrangement, allowing Jeanie Buss to remain governor.
The five Buss siblings, however, voted to enact the trust’s tag-along provision. Doing so allows the remaining Buss Family trustees to sell their remaining 17.82% equity for approximately $2.2 billion.
NBA rules dictate a governor needs minimum 15% to stay in that role. Without the Buss family stake, Jeanie would no longer be in charge.
In August, Jeanie Buss filed a petition against her siblings to prevent the sale of that minority stake. Her attorney, Adam Streisand, submitted a 97-page petition seeking to invalidate her siblings’ vote. Streisand pointed to a 2017 court order, which named Jeanie, Janie, and Joey as co-trustees, arguing that it legally binds the family to maintain Jeanie as the team’s controlling owner for life.
In their 36-page response, the five siblings directly refuted Streisand’s claims. The siblings argued that while the 2017 stipulation required co-trustees to take reasonable steps to keep Jeanie in power, it never restricted the beneficiaries’ separate legal rights to terminate or liquidate the trust.
The latest filing targeted Jeanie’s personal agreement made with Mark Walter when he took over majority control in October 2025. That side agreement had arranged for Jeanie to remain as team governor and director for five years. The siblings contended that Jeanie is placing her personal desire to hold onto her NBA position above her fiduciary duty to the trust and its beneficiaries.
The legal showdown is the latest chapter in years of internal family friction. Jeanie previously stripped her siblings, including brothers Jim, Joey, and Jesse, of their front-office titles following earlier leadership restructures. Now, her siblings are using the $12.5 billion valuation to exit the franchise entirely and distribute the $2.2 billion windfall equally among all six beneficiaries.
With the NBA Board of Governors scheduled to vote on the Kushner-Iger acquisition in November, the court hearing for Jeanie’s petition has been set for December 8 after being postponed to accommodate her attorney’s schedule. In the meantime, it’s been widely reported that Kushner intends to take on primary governor duties while Iger will oversee day-to-day operations.
Unless a settlement is reached, the December hearing will determine whether Jeanie can preserve her family legacy or if the remaining ties between the Buss name and the Lakers will be severed for good.