Three Big Questions Circling the Lakers Amid Potential Sale of Buss Family’s Remaining Stake

Nearly a week after Mark Walter sold his majority ownership stake in the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner for $12.5 billion, the Buss family has reportedly agreed to sell its remaining 17.8% ownership stake in the team, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, who assumed the title after her father Jerry died in 2013, is strongly opposed to the sale.

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Jerry Buss’s controlling ownership stake was passed on to his six children-Jeanie, Joey, Jesse, Jim, Janie and Johnny-via trust, wherein each child receives an equal vote, though Jeanie assumed the title of governor. According to CNBC’s Alex Sherman, Jeanie’s lawyer Adam Streisand says she has not agreed to sell the team and that any vote suggesting the Buss family is selling “would be and is void.”

“No sale of the JAB Trust’s 17.8% ownership interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. can be effectuated without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss. Pursuant to the JAB Trust and the attached Court Order, the co-trustees are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain Controlling Owner,” Streisand said in a letter first obtained by CNBC.

“Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

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Per Charania, the Buss family trust required that at least four of the six trustees vote in favor of the move to execute the sale. ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne reported that Jeanie did not vote to sell, but that the other five Buss siblings did. The group of five believed it had a right to sell based on a tag-along provision included in the June 2025 sale to Walter, which would allow the family to cash in on the $12.5 billion valuation of the latest sale to Iger and Kushner.

Should the contested move go through, Jeanie could no longer serve as Lakers governor, considering the NBA requires a minimum 15% ownership stake to remain a controlling owner. In his letter, Jeanie’s attorney also alleged that Joey and Jesse Buss leaked false information to Charania with the malicious intent of harming the Lakers, so long as Dr. Buss’s chosen successor (Jeanie) carries out her father’s wishes.

It is an unexpected turn of events that could bring about the end of one of the most storied ownership groups in all of sports (pending a long litigation journey, presumedly). In the meantime, here are the big questions the franchise faces, both on the court and in the front office.

Will the remaining Buss stake be sold, and will Jeanie lose the title of team governor?

This is the big one.

We know that Jeanie does not want to sell her family’s remaining shares, but her five siblings do. In Streisand’s letter, which was also obtained by Sports Illustrated, the lawyer argues that Jeanie remains the controlling shareholder of the Lakers, pursuant to a 2017 court order, and that no sale can take place without her consent.

The mentioned court order also says that co-trustees of the family trust are to take all actions reasonably available to them to ensure Jeanie is elected as the controlling owner of the Lakers on an annual basis during her lifetime unless the trust is later modified. And considering the court order is still in full effect and the trust has not been modified, Jeanie’s legal representation claims that any attempt to execute a sale would breach the trust.

Here are the relevant parts of the 2017 court order Jeanie Buss is invoking in contesting the five Buss sibling’s vote to sell the Lakers. pic.twitter.com/gcXm0SugIC

– Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) August 18, 2026

It’s unclear at this time what the next step will be. The potential sale could be nixed immediately, or the two parties could go to court to argue what’s in the best interest of the trust. Until we know otherwise, though, Jeanie will remain Lakers governor in the meantime.

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What would a potential sale mean for Rob Pelinka’s future?

A key question in the transition from Walter to Iger/Kushner, at least from the outside, is whether any front office roles will shift as a result. Rob Pelinka has served as the Lakers’ general manager since 2017 and has a longstanding relationship with the Buss family-but could this kerfuffle affect his standing?

After last week’s sale, Iger said in an interview with The California Post that he and Kushner have every intention of honoring the agreement made between Jeanie and Walter last year, under which Jeanie was intended to remain the team’s governor for a period of at least five years, despite Walter now owning the majority stake. And an NBA agent with a client on the Lakers recently told ESPN that “as long as Jeanie’s in a good position, I think Rob is in a good position.”

That said, Pelinka could be under more pressure than normal under a new ownership group. He reshaped the roster this summer amid LeBron James’s exit and gave up two first-round picks and two first-round pick swaps to put former Jazz center Walker Kessler next to Luka Dončić on a four-year, $129.5 million contract. Los Angeles also re-signed Austin Reaves to a max deal and added Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Quentin Grimes in free agency to round out the roster. Should things go south for the new-look Lakers amid a stacked Western Conference, there could be more eyes on Pelinka from up top.

Does this mean anything for the roster-Luka Dončić, specifically?

Ownership shakeups rarely have any impact on the court itself, and that will likely be the case in this situation, as well. However, it’s worth noting that Dončić has now played under five different ownership regimes in the matter of a few seasons.

When Dončić was with the Mavericks, Mark Cuban sold a majority stake to the Adelson family in 2023, and Patrick Dumont took over as the team’s governor. The Buss family had a majority stake in the Lakers when Dončić arrived via trade, but then sold that stake to Walter at a $10 billion valuation mere months later. Fast forward to last week, when Walter agreed to sell his majority stake to Iger and Kushner at a $12.5 billion valuation, amid a federal law enforcement probe into Walter’s financials.

All of this shouldn’t matter much for Dončić right now. Looking ahead, he can become a free agent two years from now should he choose to decline his $57.4 million player option for the 2028–29 season. The only reason he’d do that is if he wants to head elsewhere, presumably if this version of the Lakers is unable to legitimately compete for a title, and it’s doubtful that that decision would have anything to do with who owns a majority stake in the team or who serves as the team’s governor.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Three Big Questions Circling the Lakers Amid Potential Sale of Buss Family’s Remaining Stake.

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This story was originally published August 18, 2026 at 4:30 AM.