The Los Angeles Lakers ownership saga escalated dramatically Monday, just days after Bob Iger and Josh Kushner agreed to buy Mark Walter's majority stake at a $12.5 billion valuation, when five of the six Buss siblings voted to sell the family trust's remaining 17.8 percent stake to the same buyers using a tag-along provision in Walter's deal.
Jeanie Buss, the sixth sibling and the team's controlling owner and governor, did not vote. Her lawyer sent a letter to the other five siblings saying any vote was void.
"A court ruled in 2017 that no sale could be effectuated without approval by the co-trustees, Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss," wrote attorney Adam Streisand, who demanded the siblings publicly affirm Jeanie's status as controlling owner and take no action on the supposed vote.
The five siblings said in a statement: "We love the Lakers, Laker fans, and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can."
The stakes for Jeanie Buss are existential. NBA rules require a controlling owner or governor to hold at least 15 percent of a franchise.
If the family trust's 17.8 percent is sold, she loses the ability to remain governor. She was supposed to maintain controlling ownership through 2030 per her agreement with Walter, but Iger said last week that agreement could change.
A family that has owned the Lakers since Jerry Buss bought them in 1979 is headed to court. This is not over.