'Operation Lakers': The family feud threatening the franchise's historic sale

The sports world is still coming to terms with one of the most shocking pieces of news in recent memory: the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers. The iconic California franchise will change hands once again in a deal as dizzying as it is unexpected. The transaction closes just one year after the Buss family relinquished control of the team in a historic first sale.

Behind this move is a business partnership formed by Bob Iger, former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, and investor Joshua Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital and a figure recently linked to the failed plan to sell the commercial rights to the World Cup. The two entrepreneurs reached an agreement with Mark Walter to acquire a majority stake in the second-most successful franchise in the history of the NBA.

As details of the deal emerge, the financial scale of the transfer continues to astonish. Valued at approximately $12.5 billion, the purchase of the Lakers shatters all previous records to become the most expensive sports franchise transaction of all time. However, the deal cannot go through without the formal approval of the NBA Board of Governors, which will meet in September in New York.

A rift in the Buss family

To understand the true significance of this historic news, it is necessary to review the immediate background that laid the groundwork for the deal. In 2025, the Buss family, the Lakers' longtime owners, took the first step by ceding majority control of the franchise to Walter in a deal valued at approximately $10 billion. That agreement did not mark a permanent farewell: the clan retained a 17.8% stake and ensured the continued leadership of Jeanie Buss , one of the six children of Jerry Buss, owner of the Los Angeles franchise until his death in 2013, as governor and public face of the Lakers through 2030.

However, faced with the emergence of the Iger-Kushner duo and the scale of their offer, most of Jerry Buss's heirs chose to bring their chapter to a complete close and sell the remaining stake they held. "We have decided as a family to sell the remaining shares from the Buss family trust to Bob Iger's group as part of the ongoing transaction. We love the Lakers and their fans, and we will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to seize this opportunity to move forward and bow out gracefully while we still can," they wrote in a statement reported by AFP.

Despite the unified tone of this statement, the internal decision was far from unanimous. Sources at ESPN revealed that Jeanie Buss herself voted against the deal because she would lose control of the Lakers, something she does not want to happen. According to NBA regulations, to serve as a governor, one must own at least 15% of the franchise.

The heiress's attorney, Adam Streisand, sent a letter to the five brothers informing them that the sale cannot proceed without the approval of Jeanie, a co-trustee of the trust, as ruled by a court in 2017. In any contract, the siblings "will make it clear that Jeanie Buss is the controlling owner of the Los Angeles Lakers" and that "they will not take any action regarding this alleged vote to sell the 17.8% stake," Streisand said.