Бүсийн гэр бүлийн гишүүд багийн хувьцааг худалдах санал хураалт явуулснаар Лос Анжелес Лэйкерс доторх эзэмшлийн маргаан улам ширүүсэж байна.
Лос Анжелес Лэйкерсийн одоогийн удирдагч Жени Басс болон түүний таван дүүгийн хоорондох зөрчил гүнзгийрч, хуулийн маргаан дэгдэх эрсдэлтэй байна. Бассын гэр бүлийн итгэмжлэгдсэн төлөөлөгчид багийн хувьцааг худалдах таван саналыг гаргасан бол Жени Басс үүнийг хүчингүйд тооцуулахаар хуулийн байгууллагад хандаж, өөрийн хяналтаа баталгаажуулах байр суурьтай байна. Жонни, Жим, Жани, Жои, Жесси Басс нар хувьцаагаа худалдах нэгдмэл шийдвэрээ мягмар гарагт албан ёсоор мэдэгдлээ.
Марк Уолтер болон Боб Айгер, Жош Кушнер нарын хооронд яригдаж буй 12.5 тэрбум ам.долларын үнэлгээтэй багийн худалдаа энэхүү гэр бүлийн маргаанаас үл хамааран хэвийн үргэлжилж байна гэж эх сурвалжууд мэдээлэв. Гэрээний дагуу Жени Басс ирэх дөрвөн жилийн хугацаанд багийн удирдагчаар ажиллах нөхцөл тусгагдсан бөгөөд энэхүү үүрэг нь шинэ эзэмшигчдийн гэрээнд ч багтаж байгаа аж.
Жени Бассын тал 2017 оны Лос Анжелес хотын дээд шүүхийн захирамжийг гол нотолгоо болгон ашиглаж байна. Тус шүүхийн шийдвэрээр багийн хувьцааг Жени, Жани, Жои Басс нарын зөвшөөрөлгүйгээр худалдах боломжгүй бөгөөд Жени Бассыг насан туршид нь багийн хяналтын эзнээр ажиллуулахыг заасан байдаг. Хэрэв асуудал шүүхээр шийдэгдвэл Жени Басс багийн удирдагчийн суудлаа хадгалахын тулд багийн 15-аас доошгүй хувийг эзэмших шаардлагатай болно.
Дэлгэрэнгүй эх сурвалжийг харах
Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
If Mark Walter’s sale of the Los Angeles Lakers was the big surprise of this summer, what followed early this week was perhaps a little more predictable.
The fight within the Buss family — specifically between current Lakers governor Jeanie Buss and her five siblings, who voted to sell the family’s shares in the team — is just beginning. And with it comes a lot of posturing and planning for a fight that will determine how things are run inside basketball’s longest-running soap opera.
The drama might not stretch to the Lakers’ latest sale —the sale from Walter to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner seems like it’s still on track.
A source with knowledge of Mark Walter’s thinking told The Athletic that the current Lakers owner didn’t believe the latest Buss family disagreement would threaten his deal with Iger and Kushner, which values the Lakers at a record $12.5 billion. Two other league and team sources also said they don’t expect the conflict to impact the transaction that will push the Lakers into their next chapter. In that sense, who the Lakers’ majority owner will be when the 2026-27 season begins isn’t the pressing question at hand.
The Athletic spoke with multiple league and team sources with knowledge of the situation for this story. They were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive matters surrounding the ongoing ownership and family dispute, which could result in litigation.
Will Jeanie Buss remain the Lakers’ most powerful executive as team governor, or will she and her siblings sever ties from the organization her father purchased 47 years and 11 championships ago amid a bitter dispute?
That answer won’t be delivered quietly.
It started with the Buss Family Trust casting five votes to sell its shares. Jeanie Buss’ attorney, Adam Streisand, countered with a sternly worded letter asserting her control and laying out a legal strategy to deem the vote void. Then, on Tuesday, Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse issued a joint statement expressing their unity and making it clear that they still intend to sell the family’s shares.
What comes next may not be clear for some time, particularly if this ultimately goes to court.
If Jeanie’s siblings get their way, the trust’s vote will eventually be deemed valid and Jeanie would be out as team governor as a result (the NBA requires team governors to own at least 15 percent of the franchise). Sources familiar with the siblings’ position said they believe the family trust clearly gives them the ability to make decisions by majority vote and that their actions are consistent with previous rulings.
Jeanie and her legal team also believe strongly in their position, with a 2017 court order from the Los Angeles Superior Court cited as the foundation of their stance.
“That trumps everything,” as one league source close to the situation put it.
That order was the determining factor in a conflict between Jeanie and her two older brothers, Johnny and Jim, at the time. In the wake of Jeanie firing Jim from the team’s front office en route to hiring Magic Johnson and current president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka, it effectively ended Johnny and Jim’s attempts to have Jeanie removed as governor through the team’s board-election process.
Per the order, the family’s shares can’t be sold without the approval of “current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.”
This passage, in particular, is seen by Jeanie’s side as the primary reason the vote wasn’t valid.
“The Co-trustees of the Trust are hereby instructed to take all actions reasonably available to them, including voting the Trust’s shares, to ensure that (Jeanie Buss) is elected as the Controlling Owner of the Lakers on an annual basis during (Jeanie Buss’) lifetime absent a further order of this Court modifying the Trust based upon proof of circumstances justifying the modification under applicable law.’”
It’s fair to wonder how Iger and Kushner see this situation, with some wondering whether they’d want to choose a different governor simply because of the messiness of it all. But Walter’s choice to have Jeanie serve as governor for the next four years is known to be part of the contractual agreement from the sale 14 months ago, and a league source close to the situation indicatedthat it is now considered part of the deal with Iger and Kushner. In essence, if that proves to be the case, Iger and Kushner would be assuming Walter’s ownership role and the governor that comes with it.
What’s more, Iger has offered support for this stance both publicly and privately. Then again, as he hinted during that recent interview with The California Post “if things change, they’ll change.”
That part is true, but it appears to be more of a legal question than an Iger-Kushner one. Jeanie, meanwhile, clearly has no intention of selling her shares before the rest of her governorship is up.
Could there be a way for the rest of the siblings to sell and Jeanie to remain as governor? That would require her finding a way to still own at least 15 percent of the shares, but it is possible. Per a league source, Jeanie would be open to exploring that scenario.
Then again, the level of acrimony here can’t help when it comes to a possible negotiation. It’s worth remembering, too, that Joey and Jesse Buss were fired from their front-office positions by Jeanie just nine months ago, and the temperature has only risen since then.
The Lakers have shown they’re capable of pulling off a shocker, from trading for Luka Dončić to being sold twice in the last 14 months. A peaceful ending to this Buss battle would be the biggest stunner of them all.
