Jeanie Buss Blocks Siblings' Bid to Sell Lakers Stake to Iger, Kushner
Lakers governor Jeanie Buss says she never agreed to sell the team, declaring any family vote to do so legally void.
Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss moved Thursday to halt her siblings' reported attempt to sell the Buss family's ownership stake in the storied NBA franchise to a group that includes former Disney CEO Bob Iger and investor Joshua Kushner, according to a statement from her attorney.
Jeanie Buss's legal team made clear she has not consented to any sale of the team, and that any vote purportedly taken by the Buss family to authorize such a transaction "would be and is void." The declaration signals a sharp intra-family power struggle over one of professional basketball's most valuable and recognizable franchises.
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The dispute lays bare a significant governance question at the heart of the Lakers' ownership structure: whether other Buss family members hold the authority to override or circumvent Jeanie Buss, who has served as the team's controlling governor since the death of her father, Jerry Buss, in 2013. Her attorney's aggressive language suggests she believes the answer is unambiguously no.
Iger, who led Disney for roughly two decades, and Kushner, a venture capitalist and brother-in-law to former President Donald Trump, represent the kind of high-profile ownership group that would instantly command league-wide attention. The NBA has seen surging franchise valuations in recent years, making a Lakers stake among the most coveted assets in professional sports. How this legal standoff resolves could have lasting implications for franchise control and NBA ownership transfer rules.
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