War breaks out at the Lakers: allegations of conspiracy and billions at stake

The legal battle for the future of Los Angeles Lakers takes on a new chapter. Jeanie Buss has accused her brothers of conducting an "undercover and conspiratorial" campaign to publicly discredit her, in a family confrontation that threatens to end her tenure at the helm of the franchise. The president of the Lakers believes her brothers have not accepted that their father, Jerry Buss, chose her as his successor and has again requested the court to prevent the sale of the shares still held by the family.

The new court filing was submitted on Wednesday to the Los Angeles Superior Court and constitutes Jeanie's latest response to the actions of her brothers Joey and Jesse Buss. The conflict will have a new episode on December 8, the date set for the next hearing. According to documentation obtained by ESPN, the dispute revolves around the intention of several family members to sell their remaining stake in the Lakers to an investment group led by Bob Iger and Josh Kushner.

The operation is linked to the acquisition of the franchise by Mark Walter, valued at $12.5 billion. However, Jeanie intends to prevent her brothers from disposing of the family shares under the proposed terms, considering that such a decision would violate a previous court order and the commitments established in the family trust.

Jeanie Buss points to jealousy over Jerry Buss's decision

The accusation presented by Jeanie places the origin of the conflict in the succession of Jerry Buss, who passed away in 2013. According to her lawyers, the choice of his daughter as the responsible party for the future of the Lakers created a conflict that has lasted for years and has now moved to the courts.

“The conflicts that arose after the passing of Dr. [Jerry] Buss [in 2013] were, unfortunately, inevitable; they certainly intensified since Dr. Buss chose his daughter, above his four sons, to be his successor,” Jeanie's lawyers stated in the document submitted on Wednesday.

The filing also questions the attitude of her brothers and argues that their rejection of Jeanie's continued presence in the power structure of the franchise is behind their actions. “The defendants' obsession with discrediting Jeanie, combined with their inability to accept that she would be part of the Lakers' future, originates from this classic parable of succession.”

The dispute is not limited to personal differences. At the center of the proceedings is the stake that the Buss family retained after Walter became the majority owner of the Lakers in 2025.

The millions at stake with the sale of the Lakers

In that transaction, Walter acquired a majority stake in the franchise at a valuation of $10 billion. The Buss family then retained 17.82% of the shares, slightly above the 15% minimum required by the NBA to maintain family control. Additionally, they obtained accompanying rights in a future sale, known as go-along rights.

On August 17, Shams Charania reported that Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey, and Jesse Buss voted in favor of selling their remaining family shares to an investment group led by Iger and Kushner, utilizing those rights. If the family sells their entire stake via this clause, each of the brothers could receive an additional $371 million.

Jeanie Buss has attempted to block the sale by arguing that her brothers must comply with a court order from 2017. That ruling established that the two co-trustees, Janie and Joey, must always vote in a way that Jeanie continues to be the controlling owner of the Lakers.

For that reason, in her latest filing, she has again requested that both be removed as co-trustees of the trust for failing to fulfill their fiduciary duties. She also asks that they be found in contempt of court and that the responsibility of Jim, Johnny, and Jesse be established for collaborating and facilitating the alleged violation of the 2017 order. Additionally, she seeks reimbursement for legal expenses.

Jeanie accuses her brothers of organizing a campaign against her

The Lakers president claims that the manner in which the votes were conducted and the subsequent communications to the media are part of a strategy to pressure her and damage her public image. In her filing, she asserts that her brothers shared decisions with ESPN before communicating them to her, even though she is also part of the trust's administration.

“Jeanie had no choice but to seek judicial intervention to enforce the clear terms of the trust and the order issued by this court in 2017,” states the document submitted on Wednesday.

The accusation goes further and describes the actions of her brothers as a coordinated operation to present themselves publicly as victims. “The defendants respond by portraying themselves as victims when, in reality, the entire episode is nothing but a false flag operation orchestrated by themselves.”

The filing also questions the way decisions regarding the sale were made: “The clandestine and closed-door manner in which the 'votes' were conducted and the 'resolutions' were adopted—shared with ESPN instead of with their own sister and co-administratrix of the trust—combined with their subsequent refusal to address the matter, aimed to pressure Jeanie, victimize themselves, and once again defame her in the media through the premature dissemination of their false response.”

Jeanie Buss's brothers defend their right to sell

The version of Joey, Jesse, and the other family members supporting the operation is very different. In their previous court filings, they have argued that Jeanie's lawsuit is baseless and have requested that it be dismissed. Their argument is that they acted within the voting rights granted to them as beneficiaries of the trust.

In a document submitted on October 16, the brothers questioned how Jeanie could accuse them of acting in self-interest while she tries to maintain control over the franchise.

“It is profoundly ironic that [Jeanie] alleges that it is [Joey and Janie] who place their own interests first,” they noted, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. “The entire petition [originally filed by Jeanie] is based on the premise that the rights expressly granted to the beneficiaries by [the trust] should be subordinated to [Jeanie's] personal interest in maintaining control as the owner. [Jeanie's] hypocrisy should not go unnoticed.”

Jeanie responded to that accusation in her new filing, insisting that her actions are in line with the responsibilities assigned to her by her parents and not due to a personal interest in maintaining power.

“It is extremely ironic that the defendants' thesis is that Jeanie acts out of self-interest. Jeanie's 'self-interest' has actually consisted of exercising the leadership as her parents intended in their respective trusts.”

The signing of the sale agreement, pending formalization

As the family feud continues, negotiations to finalize the sale of the Lakers have also progressed. Sources close to the family have confirmed to ESPN that there have been conversations to reach an agreement between the opposing parties, although it is unclear how much progress has been made before the December 8 hearing.

Additionally, Ramona Shelburne reported on Friday a relevant technical detail for the operation: the accompanying rights in the sale (go-along rights) can only be invoked once Walter officially notifies the family that he has signed a sale agreement.

On the same day, Shelburne also reported, citing sources close to the negotiation, that Walter and Kushner have already agreed on all outstanding terms for the sale of the franchise and expect to sign the formal contract soon. Once that signing occurs, the deal will have to undergo review by the NBA.

Therefore, the future of the family’s stake in the Lakers remains conditioned by two parallel processes: the formalization of the transaction between Walter and Kushner and the legal battle facing Jeanie against her brothers. The December hearing will be a new step in determining how far each party's claims can go and what leeway exists to resolve a conflict that threatens to definitively change the power structure of one of the most important franchises in the NBA.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Estalla la guerra en los Lakers: acusaciones de conspiración y miles de millones en juego