The last year has been one of change for Joey and Jesse Buss after their family decided to sell their majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. Joey and Jesse were later fired from their front office roles with the team and now are trying to sell the rest of the minority shares in the Lakers along with their other siblings minus Jeanie.
It’s no secret that Joey and Jesse loved their jobs with the Lakers and have made it clear since leaving that they want to be involved with team ownership, launching a sports acquisition group and expressing interest in the NBA’s Europe initiative.
It appears they have found a group to get involved with outside of basketball though as Joey and Jesse announced they have joined Kwanza Jones and Jose E. Feliciano’s San Diego Padres ownership group. Both Buss brothers released statements to Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“We are honored to join Kwanza and José and have the opportunity to contribute to the future of a team that Jesse and I have loved since we were kids growing up in San Diego,” said Joey Buss in a statement. “Sports have always been a part of our family’s story, and great organizations have a unique ability to bring people together and create a lasting sense of community. Padres fans have built one of the most passionate and loyal communities in all of sports, and we believe there is a tremendous opportunity to deepen that connection in San Diego and around the world.
“The Padres are on the cusp of something special, and through Buss Sports Capital, we look forward to bringing our experience and perspective to the ownership group and doing our part to build on the strong foundation already in place.”
Added Jesse Buss in a statement: “Joey and I had the privilege of learning from our father and then spending nearly two decades building our own careers in professional basketball operations. We saw firsthand what it takes to build a championship organization, and throughout our careers have applied those lessons across talent evaluation, roster construction, player development and long-term organizational planning. While every sport is different, we believe the principles behind building sustained success are universal.”
This news comes on the heels of the Buss siblings trying to sell their minority stake in the Lakers, although Jeanie is contesting it. While that could take years to resolve if it goes to court, Joey and Jesse clearly want to move on and start with their next venture, which is the Padres.
Ironically, the Buss brothers will now be competing in the NL West against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are still owned by Mark Walter despite his recent decision to sell the Lakers. The Buss family sold their majority stake in the purple and gold to Walter last year, before he then flipped the team to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner amid an ongoing federal investigation into his other insurance companies.
Jeanie Buss open to purchasing required Lakers shares to remain governor
The reason Jeanie is going against her family’s wishes to sell the rest of their Lakers shares is because she wants to remain governor of the team. That requires at least a 15% ownership stake, and she reportedly is open to purchasing that from her siblings to stay with the organization.
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