Jerry Buss wouldnt be pleased with Lakers drama: Why Jeanie needs to wave white flag

Jerry Buss wouldn’t have wanted this. After the Lakers owner died in 2013, there has been acerbic in-fighting between his children, most recently culminating in Jeanie Buss’ five siblings voting to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% share of the franchise, while she contests the sale so she can remain governor. At this point, it’s time for Jeanie to just let go. Sure, Jerry wanted the Lakers to remain in the family.But he wouldn’t have wanted this madness.

There’s so much undercutting.Backstabbing.

Drama. He wouldn’t have wanted a franchise that won 10 championships under his reign to be dragged through his family’s mud for a decade. He wouldn’t have wanted the greatest show in the league to devolve into a melodrama with his surname surrounded by bright lights.This isn’t an indictment of Jeanie’s reign as governor, which included her acquiring LeBron James and helping guide the team to its first championship in 10 years in 2020. There’s no doubt that she has so much institutional knowledge.She became the first female majority owner to win an NBA title.

She’s a trailblazer. But there’s grace in knowing when to drop the rope. Really, what is she even fighting for at this point? She was the catalyst for selling the Lakers to Mark Walter for $10 billion in October 2025. Yes, the deal was for her to remain governor through 2030, an arrangement new owners Bob Iger and Josh Kushner intended to honor after buying the team from Walter last week for $12.5 billion. But things have changed. They’ve gotten ugly again.The five Buss family siblings intended to use a tag-along provision to sell their remaining stake in the Lakers.

They issued a statement to ESPN on Monday, saying, “It is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”Jeanie, who was the only sibling who didn’t vote for the sale, dug her feet into the ground. Through her lawyer, Adam Streisand, Jeanie is contending that a court rule...