The NBA Board of Governors meetings are set to take place this week, which, for the Los Angeles Lakers, brings up an interesting question of exactly who is the team’s governor at this point. Jeanie Buss has been operating as Lakers governor, but with the drama and uncertainty surrounding the team’s sale, and her siblings desires to sell their minority shares, it is a bit unclear where everything stands at this moment.
While nothing is for sure, it is expected that Jeanie will be attendance at this week’s meetings, operating in her capacity as Lakers governor, via Tom Friend of the Sports Business Journal:
Monday and Tuesday’s NBA’s Board of Governors session is a newsflash waiting to happen, straight down to who shows up to rep the Clippers and the Lakers. Indications are Steve Ballmer won’t and Jeanie Buss will, but, either way, the teams of L.A. are bringing dirty laundry East to N.Y.
Jeanie being there and continuing to operate in that capacity does make the most sense. The sale of the Lakers has not officially gone through, so at this time the franchise’s ownership structure remains the same and she still has the required 15% ownership stake to be team governor.
Whether that will remain the case in the future is anyone’s guess. Jeanie is fighting her siblings’ decision to sell off those shares, with a court date on the matter coming in December. It is possible that some sort of agreement can be come to between the Buss family by that time and ultimately there will be more clarity on the entire Lakers ownership situation. But there is also a very real possibility that this could indeed be the final Board of Governors meeting that Jeanie is in attendance for.
While the Lakers and Clippers drama is sure to be discussed at the meetings this week, they are not the primary items on the agenda for the NBA. Topics such as expansion into Seattle and Las Vegas, the NBA Europe league, and the future of local TV deals are all expected to be the major focus of these meetings.
Lakers sale not expected to be voted on at NBA Board of Governors meetings
The sale of the Lakers from Mark Walter to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger requires a vote from the Board of Governors with 23 of the 30 needing to approve for it to become official. However, that vote is not expected to take place during this week’s meetings.
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