The ongoing dispute within the Buss family over the ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers has moved to L.A. Superior Court, with lawyers for co-trustees Janie and Joey Buss filing a response to Jeanie Buss’s petition. The filing aims to proceed with the proposed sale of the family’s remaining shares of the team.
Jeanie Buss is seeking to block her five siblings from selling a 17.82% stake in the Lakers. However, the new response states that Janie and Joey, as co-trustees of the family trust, were authorized and required to implement a vote taken in August. That month, a majority of the living Buss siblings opted to terminate the trust, triggering its termination clause. The filing argues that the trust does not grant trustees discretion to disregard a valid vote to terminate.
This legal move follows a formal opposition filed last week on behalf of the five Buss siblings, defending their right to vote to sell the team. The latest filing asks the court to dismiss Jeanie Buss’s petition or deny it entirely.
Jeanie Buss’s argument against the sale centers on a 2017 court order. She contended that her siblings could not terminate the family trust and sell the remaining shares without her approval. The 2017 order instructed trustees to “take reasonably available steps” to support her annual election as the Lakers' controlling governor. This order was obtained after her older brothers, Jimmy and Johnny Buss, attempted to remove her from the organization, and it was at this time that Janie and Joey were installed as co-trustees.
However, lawyers for Janie and Joey argue that the 2017 court order did not prohibit a sale or termination of the trust. While the order named “voting the trust’s shares” as a reasonable action, the filing states it did not require the trust to maintain a 15% stake in the team. This 15% threshold is relevant for minority owners to serve on the NBA’s board of governors. In a statement, the five siblings called Jeanie Buss’s petition “legally and factually baseless.”
Jerry Buss, the family patriarch, purchased the Lakers along with the Forum and the Kings for $67.5 million in 1979. He envisioned it as a family business and selected Jeanie Buss to serve as the team’s controlling governor after his death in 2013. Since then, the Lakers have grown into one of sports' most valuable brands, but his six children have publicly struggled to overcome their differences.
The filing also reports that the five Buss siblings hope to maximize value for all six beneficiaries, including Jeanie Buss, by using a tag-along provision secured during an earlier sale. That earlier deal saw Mark Walter purchase controlling ownership from the Buss siblings in 2025. Walter then sold his shares 14 months later to venture capitalist Joshua Kushner and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger at a record $12.5 billion valuation. Selling the family’s current 17.82% stake in the team would be worth approximately $2.2 billion at current valuations.
A hearing on the matter is scheduled for December 8. Meanwhile, the Lakers are set to open their regular season on October 21 against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena. Jeanie Buss was seen courtside at the Lakers’ home preseason opener on October 8.
