Jeanie Buss Courtesy of Gremly Media A shock Lakers sale is reopening an internal schism within the family that had controlled the NBA franchise for 46 years.
In a letter on Monday, Jeanie Buss’ attorney accused ESPN’s star NBA reporter Shams Charania of being the recipient of a “false” leak from Buss siblings Joey and Jesse. In a report attributed to sources, Charania wrote that the family trust of six siblings had voted to relinquish its 17.8 percent stake in the franchise. That would wind down the family’s involvement in the team, marking a significant move for a family whose patriarch Jerry Buss made the Lakers synonymous with the word “Showtime” in Los Angeles.
“Shams Charania of ESPN falsely reported that the six Buss siblings voted to sell the 17.8% ownership stake in the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, and that my client, Jeanie Buss, is ‘out’ as controlling owner. This is just the latest instance of a years-long pattern whereby Joey and Jesse Buss leak false, defamatory and pernicious ‘information” to Mr. Charania for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Dr. Buss’s chosen successor, Jeanie Buss, carries out her father’s wishes,” Sheppard attorney Adam Streisand wrote in a letter.
On Aug. 12, the team’s owner Mark Walter, who purchased the Los Angeles team in a deal that closed last October, revealed that he inked a deal to sell the franchise to a group led by Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger, with a reported valuation of $12.5 billion. The 41-year-old Kushner would be controlling owner in his personal capacity if the multibillion-dollar deal closes. Iger is expected to have a significant operational role at the franchise after the deal closes.
When Walter acquired the team he agreed to keep Jeanie as the teams “governor” for five years, after which he would have an option to buy out the family stake. Even if Jeanie succeeds in blocking her family’s stake in the franchise from being sold, that wouldn’t impact the sale that Walter orchestrated to Iger and Kushner. But it would impact how involved Jeanie is in the franchise going forward over the next several years.
Jeanie’s attorney Streisand points to a court order in 2017 that states that she stay as controlling owner of the Lakers throughout her lifetime absent a further order modifying the trust. In writing to her siblings’ attorneys, Steisand wrote: “On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the Controlling Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed “vote” to sell the 17.8% stake.”
That sentiment runs contrary to the Buss siblings that ESPN published hours ago, attributed to a family statement. “We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” read that unsigned statement. “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”
CNBC earlier reported the Aug. 17 letter from Jeanie Buss, which The Hollywood Reporter has obtained and is embedded below:
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