The record $12.5 billion sale of the Los Angeles Lakers has ignited an open family war, with five Buss siblings filing formal court papers against their sister Jeanie Buss in a fight that could strip her of control of the franchise.
The siblings — Jimmy, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss — filed their formal opposition on Wednesday, seeking to overturn Jeanie’s attempt to block the sale of the family’s remaining 17.82 per cent stake, worth roughly $2.2 billion, to the ownership group led by venture capitalist Josh Kushner and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger. The boardroom drama is unfolding as a new season gets under way across North America’s professional leagues.
A sister against her siblings
The dispute turns on the family trust’s tag-along provision, which the five siblings voted to exercise. Under NBA rules, a team governor must hold at least 15 per cent of the franchise; without the family stake, Jeanie would lose the governor’s chair she has held for years. In August, Jeanie — through her lawyer — filed a 97-page petition arguing that a 2017 court order binds the family to keep her as controlling owner for life. This week’s 36-page response from her siblings calls that petition legally and factually baseless, and accuses Jeanie of putting her personal desire to stay in power above her duties to the trust.
A court hearing once scheduled for 5 November has been pushed to 8 December. The siblings say their focus remains on completing the transaction on schedule and treating all beneficiaries equally. The latest court filings were detailed in sports coverage this week.
The richest deal in sports history
The sale itself is unprecedented. Mark Walter — who also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers — bought majority control from the Buss family in June 2025 for $10 billion, then a record for an American sports team. About a year later he agreed to sell to the Kushner-Iger group at a $12.5 billion valuation, a deal Iger later said came together in just three days. The transaction still needs approval from at least 23 of the NBA’s 30 owners, with a board vote expected in November.
The buyers are thinking even bigger: an investor presentation circulating among prospective backers projects the franchise could be worth $30 billion within a decade — and as much as $62 billion under the rosiest assumptions — driven by international growth and new local media rights. Whether Jeanie Buss is still governor when that future arrives is now, remarkably, a question for the courts. Financial details of the buyers’ plans were reported in the sports business press.
