Jerry Buss wouldn’t be pleased with Lakers drama: Why Jeanie needs to wave white flag

Jerry Buss wouldn’t have wanted this. 

After the Lakers owner died in 2013, there has been acerbic in-fighting between his children, most recently culminating in Jeanie Buss’ five siblings voting to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% share of the franchise, while she contests the sale so she can remain governor. 

Jeanie Buss and Jerry Buss have been part of the Lakers’ legacy for decades. FilmMagic

At this point, it’s time for Jeanie to just let go. 

Sure, Jerry wanted the Lakers to remain in the family. But he wouldn’t have wanted this madness. There’s so much undercutting. Backstabbing. Drama. 

He wouldn’t have wanted a franchise that won 10 championships under his reign to be dragged through his family’s mud for a decade. 

He wouldn’t have wanted the greatest show in the league to devolve into a melodrama with his surname surrounded by bright lights.

This isn’t an indictment of Jeanie’s reign as governor, which included her acquiring LeBron James and helping guide the team to its first championship in 10 years in 2020. 

There’s no doubt that she has so much institutional knowledge. She became the first female majority owner to win an NBA title. She’s a trailblazer. 

But there’s grace in knowing when to drop the rope. 

Really, what is she even fighting for at this point? She was the catalyst for selling the Lakers to Mark Walter for $10 billion in October 2025. 

Yes, the deal was for her to remain governor through 2030, an arrangement new owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner intended to honor after buying the team from Walter last week for $12.5 billion. 

But things have changed. 

They’ve gotten ugly again. The five Buss family siblings intended to use a tag-along provision to sell their remaining stake in the Lakers. They issued a statement to ESPN on Monday, saying, “It is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”

Jeanie, who was the only sibling who didn’t vote for the sale, dug her feet into the ground. 

Through her lawyer, Adam Streisand, Jeanie is contending that a court ruled in 2017 that the team can’t be sold without approval by the co-trustees, who are Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss. 

Now everything is going to be up to lawyers and courtrooms. 

The losers of all of this? The Lakers, who will be paralyzed until this resolves, unless Iger and Kushner decide to cut ties with Jeanie. 

This is nuanced. 

Jeanie is the face of the Lakers. It made sense for Walter to keep her as governor after buying the team. Iger and Kushner were right to respect that. She provides a sense of continuity. Of oversight. Of comfort amid chaos. 

But if there’s a war raging in the background, that detracts from any good she could do. If her family drama is a distraction, that’s going to hurt the Lakers more than she could help them. 

Jeanie fired her brother, Jim Buss, as the executive vice president of basketball operations in 2017 after the Lakers were heading toward their fourth straight losing season.  Getty Images

The Buss family has overseen the Lakers for 47 years, turning it into the second-most successful NBA franchise with 17 championships. Under Jerry, the Lakers acquired superstars Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. He created the Laker Girls. He’s widely considered one of the greatest owners in sports. 

Jeanie carried on his legacy. She’s respected. She’s beloved. 

But her reign has always come with an ugly underbelly. 

Jeanie fired her brother, Jim Buss, as the executive vice president of basketball operations in 2017 after the Lakers were heading toward their fourth straight losing season. 

Things got even uglier. 

Jim and Johnny Buss attempted a boardroom coup to oust Jeanie as the team’s controlling owner in 2017. She obtained a restraining order and filed a lawsuit against her brothers, with the siblings ultimately reaching a settlement that strengthened her power. 

The drama didn’t stop there. 

Under Jeanie’s governorship after the Lakers were sold to Walter, Joey and Jesse Buss were dismissed from their basketball operations positions in November 2025. Jeanie’s sister, Janie Buss, was also removed as the team’s longtime charitable services director.

A few months later, an ESPN story came out that undercut Jeanie’s relationship with James. 

The story alleged that Jeanie resented James’ “outsized ego,” adding that she even “privately mused” about trading the megastar to the Clippers in 2022 and that she “begrudgingly” gave him a contract extension in 2024 because she feared the public backlash if she didn’t. 

In a statement to The Athletic, Jeanie said, “It’s really not right, given all the great things LeBron has done for the Lakers, that he has to be pulled into my family drama.” 

James left the Lakers in free agency this summer after eight seasons with the franchise. 

Now, the drama is raging once again. 

Her siblings have banded together. And she’s refusing to wave the white flag. 

But at this point, is that what’s best for the Lakers?

Jeanie agreed to sell the team. The Lakers deserve a fresh start. The Buss family drama would get in the way of that. 

The Buss family was the greatest thing to happen to the Lakers. 

But all good things must come to an end.