The Los Angeles Lakers are approaching another ownership change, barely a year removed from the last one. The instability has already drawn criticism from franchise legends, and Magic Johnson has made his expectations clear: championships, as always, are the standard.
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Pau Gasol is taking a different tone.
The two-time champion has served as a Lakers ambassador since retiring, representing the franchise in an official capacity following a playing career that earned him a spot in the rafters alongside his retired No. 16. When he appeared on Sue Bird’s podcast recently, Gasol was candid. The sale, he said, caught him “off guard.”
“Ultimately you know you want to feel hopeful and excited and positive and intrigued as well, right, to see how things are going to play out and how things are going to be different,” Gasol said on Bird’s Eye View podcast. “Obviously now we see how Jeanie is contesting her siblings as far as selling the estate, which I think is 17.8% of the family estate. I mean, there’s a legacy portion of it. I mean change happens. Change will always happen. Change is sometimes scary. But you know it’s a great team. It’s a great organization.”
It tracks with what Gasol said a year ago. Back then, he praised Jerry Buss for transforming the franchise into a global brand after the move from Minneapolis, and credited the family’s love and commitment as something that ran deep through the organization. He had similar words for Jeanie Buss, calling her job running the team “unbelievable.”
The sentiment hasn’t changed much. The circumstances have.
Last year’s sale to Mark Walter closed out 47 years of Buss family ownership at a $10 billion valuation. Now, Walter has sold his position to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, with the franchise valued at $12.5 billion. The deal is still pending NBA approval. And with the Buss family drama unresolved in the background, this transition carries more weight than a straightforward transaction.
It was Shams Charania who reported that the Buss family trust has decided to sell their 17.8% stake to the new group of the Iger-Kushner. The statement said that they wanted to “use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”
However, Jeanie Buss is contesting that sale.
“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.”
Jeanie’s attorney, Adam Streisand, has argued that a 2017 court ruling obligates the trust’s co-trustees to preserve the minimum ownership needed for Buss to remain the Lakers’ controlling owner. Buss even had an agreement with Mark Walter to remain as a governor until 2030. Iger recently revealed they had no intention to change that agreement.
But the former Disney boss also hinted, “If something changes, then it changes.” Jeanie Buss even filed a petition to stop her siblings, and there is an update.
“According to court documents, attorneys for Jeanie Buss filed for a continuance in her petition to stop the family trust from selling the Lakers’ minority stake. The hearing is now scheduled for Dec. 8,” wrote Dan Woike of The Athletic on X.
The hearing was originally scheduled for November 5. After the court approved a continuance request, it was pushed to December 8. Buss’ attorney sought the extension citing two speaking engagements in Europe, with his client not expected back in Los Angeles until November 18.
While this unfolds, New York Post’s Charles Gasparino reported Josh Kushner will be the lone controlling shareholder of the Lakers. “There can only be one governor per team, and that will be Josh Kushner,” Gasparino stated. “He will be putting up the 15% ownership stake.”
So, not just ownership change, but the Buss family reign with the Lakers is seemingly on the rocks.