Lakers Sale Takes Dramatic Turn After Jeanie Buss Accuses Siblings of Leaking ‘False’ Intel

Natasha DyeTue, August 18, 2026 at 4:56 PM UTC

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Jeanie Buss on Feb. 22, 2026 in Los AngelesCredit: Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty -

Jeanie Buss’ lawyer denied that she agreed to sell their remaining 17.8% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers in a letter obtained by CNBC on Monday, Aug. 17

The letter claimed her brothers Jesse and Joey have a history of leaking “false, defamatory and pernicious ‘information’” to ESPN for the “malicious purpose of doing harm” to the team

Former Disney chairman Bob Iger and Karlie Kloss’ husband, businessman Josh Kushner, are in the process of buying the Lakers

The sale of the Los Angeles Lakers is forcing another public dispute between the Buss siblings.

After ESPN reported that the Buss family “decided to sell its remaining 17.8% stake” of the team on Monday, Aug. 17, a lawyer representing Jeanie Buss — the controlling owner and governor of the franchise — denied that Jeanie agreed to sell in a letter sent to lawyers for her siblings Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse, and obtained by CNBC.

Jeanie’s lawyer Adam Streisand said “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.”

Jeanie and Jim Buss on Aug. 10, 2012Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty

Streisand claimed in the letter, per CNBC, that the ESPN report “is just the latest instance” in which Joey and Jesse “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.”

The sale of the remaining Buss ownership, which keeps Jeanie qualified to serve as the team’s governor under the NBA’s guidelines that require controlling owners/governors to own at least 15% of a franchise, cannot be “effectuated without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss,” Streisand continued in the letter. “Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.”

Jesse Buss, Johnny Buss on June 6, 2022Credit: Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty

Jeanie’s lawyer concluded the letter with a “demand” to her siblings that they “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.”

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ESPN reported on Aug. 12 that Josh Kushner and Bob Iger were purchasing the team for over $12 billion, less than one year after Mark Walter bought the team from the Buss family for a then-record $10 billion.

Walter had previously agreed with Jeanie to keep her as the controlling owner of the Lakers through 2030, and Iger told the California Post last week that he would keep that agreement in place. However, he added, “If something changes, then it changes.”

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In November 2025, Jesse slammed Jeanie after he and Joey were fired from the Lakers and said he hadn’t spoken to his sister in five months.

“Oftentimes within the organization, it kind of felt like I was being treated like I was working against them,” Jesse said in an interview with The Athletic. “And, I guess you could say, like an enemy. But the only thing I ever wanted was the most success for this team.”

“As time went on,” Jesse continued, “there was a lack of communication between not only my sister and I, but the organization as a whole while I was combating various health issues.”

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Source: “AOL Money”