The biggest reason why the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner came as such a surprise is that it came less than one year since Mark Walter officially became the majority owner of the franchise. The Buss family had owned the Lakers since 1979 and suddenly the person whom they deemed worthy of taking over is moving on extremely quickly.
Jeanie Buss herself had built a relationship with Walter over the years and felt comfortable selling the Lakers to him, convincing her family it was the right thing to do. But this latest sale now reportedly has the Buss family feeling embarrassed, via Shams Charania of ESPN:
“Jeanie told [her siblings] this sale to [Walter] was in the best interest of the long term, but it ended up being an embarrassing one, and it was time to move on cleanly,” one person with knowledge of the process said.
Buss family drama is nothing new as there has been plenty since the siblings took over the franchise from the late, great Dr. Jerry Buss. Now with the siblings voting to sell their remaining shares to Iger and Kushner, and Jeanie disputing the sale, there is another chapter to add to the story.
In selling off their remaining shares, it would force Jeanie to be removed as Lakers governor as NBA rules require at least a 15% ownership stake in order to operate in that position. Upon the sale to Walter, Jeanie had gotten it in writing that she would remain governor of the franchise for at least the next five years and Iger has said that he intended to honor that agreement as well.
Now, it is anyone’s guess as to what the future holds for this Lakers franchise. There are rumors circulating as to why Walter has chosen to sell in such a short amount of time, but whatever the true reasoning is, it has apparently made the Buss family look bad and now they are ready to move on completely. And now there will be more drama and likely legal proceedings as all of this gets sorted out and, hopefully, doesn’t have a negative effect on the on-court product.
Luka Doncic already taking steps to get to know new Lakers owners
Throughout all of this, Lakers superstar guard Luka Doncic is still entrenched as the face of the franchise and he is already taking steps to reach out and get to know the team’s new owners.
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