A family feud turns legal
Jeanie Buss, the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, has filed a legal challenge against her siblings’ plan to sell their 17.8 percent minority stake to investors Josh Kushner and former NBA chief executive Bob Iger.
The proposed transaction, valued at roughly $12.5 billion, would elevate Kushner and Iger to joint owners of about 83 percent of the franchise, pushing Buss’s holdings below the 15 percent threshold that the NBA requires for a governor’s seat.
The dispute traces back to the death of patriarch Jerry Buss in 2013, when the family’s ownership structure began to fracture. Jeanie Buss has already removed her brothers from key operational roles in 2017 and again in 2021, signaling the depth of the rift.
Under NBA governance rules, any individual who wishes to retain a seat on the Board of Governors must maintain at least a 15 percent ownership stake. Should the sale proceed, Buss would fall short of that requirement, effectively ending her formal influence over league‑wide decisions.
The Board of Governors must still approve the sale, a process that can take several months as legal arguments, financial disclosures and league protocols are examined. Until then, the future of the Lakers’ leadership remains uncertain.