Things are getting messy with the ownership transfer of the Los Angeles Lakers. First, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Mark Walter — amid federal investigations — was selling the majority stake of the franchise to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. Then, he followed that up by saying that five of six Buss siblings, not including Jeanie Buss, agreed to tag-along and sell their remaining shares to Iger and Kushner, officially exiting the Lakers in their entirety.
However, the drama only began there. Jeanie, the controlling governor of the Lakers right now, released a statement through her lawyers that she had final say over whether or not her siblings could sell below 15% ownership and that their vote to sell was invalid. That statement also called out Charania for false reporting:
The legalese of the vote and sale will be hotly contested over the next few months, but Charania made sure to clear his name separately.
“I have to make it clear, I fully stand by my reporting,” Charania said on the Pat McAfee Show on ESPN. “What I reported was that there was a majority vote, at least four of six necessary to be able to close a transfer as far as the tag-along provision. And I had a statement from the Buss family trust. The first line of the statement from the lawyer said that I ‘reported the six Buss siblings voted to sell.’ That key sentence right there is inaccurate, and so I fully stand by my reporting, and I’ve handled every story with care, including stories with the Lakers as that statement continues on.
“So, that’s where all of this is at, and so only the siblings, the lawyers involved have access to what the trust actually says. If five siblings believe they have the majority vote, that they have the 5-1 majority votes to go along with the tag-along provision. And just think about it. A year ago, Jeanie Buss pushed the sale for $10 billion to Mark Walter. And now, a year later, Mark Walter — who is under two federal investigations — has sold, within a multi-day span, to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at $12.5 billion. And so the family trust believes it’s now time to cleanly exit, and in their words, gracefully exit. But this is now setting up to be a potential legal battle in the courts between one sibling — the controlling governor as of right now — and her five siblings.”
Things are absolutely going to get messy, and Charania rightfully has no interest in being dragged into that mess. He is correct in that what he reported does not conflict with the truth. The Buss siblings held a vote that they believe is valid to sell the remaining shares, and Charania never reported that Jeanie was a part of that vote.
However, it will be interesting to see how Charania approaches the reporting of the rest of this legal battle, given that he has already been called out by name by Buss’ legal team.
Jeanie Buss open to purchasing required shares
If it ultimately turns out that Jeanie’s legal challenge of the sale does not work out, one alternative for Jeanie to try and remain the Lakers’ governor is to buy her way back in to 15% of the team. It’s unclear exactly how that would happen, but it’s a scenario she is reportedly open to.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
