Lakers Sale Nears Finish as Jeanie Buss Fights Siblings

The Lakers sale just got messier and bigger at the same time. Lakers owner Mark Walter and Josh Kushner have agreed on every outstanding term of a record twelve and a half billion dollar deal, according to the Los Angeles Times, while governor Jeanie Buss is fighting her own siblings in court.

It reads like a prestige TV drama about a rich family, except the franchise is real and the stakes are huge. Here is what is happening and what could come next.

Walter and Kushner shake on the deal

Walter and Kushner, a venture capitalist at Thrive Capital, met at Walter's Florida home to finalize the terms, the Times reported, citing people with knowledge of the situation. The agreement still has to be signed. After that, the NBA's Board of Governors must approve it before anything becomes official.

Former Disney chief executive Bob Iger is partnering with Kushner on the purchase. The Times said Kushner has assured Walter he has the funds to close. Walter bought a majority stake from the Buss family in twenty twenty-five at a ten billion dollar valuation, then agreed to sell less than a year after becoming owner.

Jeanie Buss goes on offense

The other storyline is a family fight over the remaining Lakers stake. In a court filing this week, Jeanie Buss accused her siblings of a "cloak and dagger" campaign through the media, according to ESPN. She also said they were jealous that their father, Jerry Buss, picked her to run the team.

Her lawyers wrote that the conflicts after Dr. Buss died in twenty thirteen were "sadly inevitable," since he chose his daughter over four sons as his successor. She asked a judge to block the siblings from selling the family's shares, a sale that would end her run as Lakers governor.

What the Buss family actually owns

When Walter bought the team, the Buss family kept a seventeen point eight two percent stake. That is just above the fifteen percent minimum the NBA requires for a family to keep control. The family also received go-along rights, which let them join a future sale.

On August seventeen, ESPN reported that five siblings, Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss, voted to sell their remaining shares to the Iger and Kushner group. Each stands to make an additional three hundred seventy-one million dollars if the whole stake is sold. Jeanie did not vote and has challenged the move.

The court order at the center

Jeanie's argument rests on a twenty seventeen court order. She says it required co-trustees Janie and Joey to always vote so she stays the controlling owner. Her latest filing asks the court to remove Janie and Joey as co-trustees for breach of fiduciary duty and to hold them in contempt.

The siblings say her position lacks merit. In an October sixteen filing, they argued that she wants rights given to beneficiaries to be "subjugated" to her own interest in staying in charge. Jeanie's side fired back that it "drips with irony" to call her self-interested.

Why this one matters beyond basketball

Sports franchises now trade like blue-chip assets, and this Lakers sale shows how fast the price can climb. The same team changed hands at ten billion dollars and is now headed to a twelve and a half billion dollar valuation within about a year. That jump is the reason both sides of the Buss family are so determined.

The Times also noted that Walter has been at the center of a federal loan investigation tied to his holding company, and that he is reportedly seeking to sell the WNBA's Sparks. Those details do not change the Lakers deal terms, but they add context for anyone wondering why the franchise is moving again so soon.

What happens next

A hearing is set for December eight in Los Angeles Superior Court. ESPN reported that go-along rights can technically be invoked only after Walter officially tells the family he has signed a sale deal, so the timing matters. Sources close to the family also told ESPN there have been settlement talks, though it is unclear how far they have gotten.

For fans, the on-court product is Luka Doncic and a team that just blew a big lead to the Warriors. Off the court, the Lakers sale is shaping up as one of the wildest ownership stories in sports. Check the sports desk and the business desk on GenZ NewZ for updates.