The news that Mark Walter was selling his majority shares of the Los Angeles Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner was a bombshell in itself. But then came another shocker as it was announced that the Buss family siblings had agreed to share their remaining shares to Iger and Kushner as well. However, Jeanie Buss is disputing this sale and there could be some legal battles coming that would delay things.
Purchasing an NBA team is already something that takes time and there were some concerns this Buss family drama could threaten to delay or possibly even cancel Iger and Kushner’s purchase of the franchise as a whole. But according to Sam Amick and Dan Woike of The Athletic, the Buss family saga should not impact Iger and Kushner’s purchase of the majority shares from Walter:
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.
This is a positive for the Lakers as a whole as the sooner Kushner and Iger can officially take over as owners, the quicker they will be able to implement their vision for the franchise and things can begin to fall into place. The fact that there is so much drama surrounding the franchise as a whole right now is not great, but at least the majority owner won’t be in question.
Everything is still up in the air as Jeanie believes that the Buss siblings selling their shares cannot happen legally without her approval. And all of the changes at the ownership level is also delaying the building out of the Lakers’ front office staff, which could greatly hinder things on the court. Getting everything settled as quickly and smoothly as possible would be a great benefit to the entire organization.
Jeanie Buss open to purchasing required shares to remain Lakers governor
Remaining Lakers governor is something that is extremely important to Jeanie and NBA rules require at least a 15% ownership stake in the team in order to operate in that capacity. One potential scenario that she is reportedly open to is purchasing her sibling’s stakes, which would allow her to keep the necessary percentage.
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