By Aris Barkas/ info@eurohoops.net
Just hours after the news broke out about the decision of the Buss brothers to sell their ownership stake in the Lakers, their sister and current Lakers governor, Jeanie Buss, reacted with legal action.
Jeanie Buss, through her lawyer Adam Streisand, is contending that a court ruled in 2017 that no sale could be “effectuated without approval by the co-trustees, i.e. Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.”
This was made clear in a letter obtained by US media, as Jeanie Buss is contesting her siblings’ vote to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% share of the Lakers to the new owners, Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, who already have a deal for the 82,2% share at a record price for $12,5 billions.
“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,” the family said in a statement earlier Monday. “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.”
As it turned out, Jeanie Buss was the lone sibling who did not vote to sell the team.
Streisand demanded that the five other siblings “make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the Controlling Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers” and “take no action on this supposed ‘vote’ to sell the 17.8% stake.”
The Buss family had owned the Lakers since Jerry Buss purchased the team from Jack Kent Cooke in May 1979. Under the leadership of Buss and, after his death, his children, the Lakers won 11 NBA championships — most recently in 2020.
However, Jeanie Buss is at odds with the rest of her brothers and her sister Janie.
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