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In a court filing this week, Jeanie Buss accused her siblings of conspiring against her in a "cloak and dagger" campaign through the media, said they were jealous that their father picked her over them to govern the Los Angeles Lakers and asked a judge to block her siblings' attempt to sell the family's shares in the team, which would end her run as the Lakers' governor. Wednesday's filing, reviewed by ESPN, is the latest salvo in the bitter legal battle playing out between Jeanie and her siblings, namely Joey and Jesse Buss, leading up to a scheduled Dec. 8 hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The filing responds to recent filings by Jeanie's siblings, who are seeking to sell the family's remaining shares of the Lakers to the Bob Iger and Josh Kushner ownership group, who are seeking to buy the team from Mark Walter at a $12.5 billion valuation. "The conflicts that ensued after Dr. [Jerry] Buss's death [in 2013] were sadly inevitable, and no doubt intensified given that Dr. Buss chose his daughter over four sons to be his successor," Jeanie's lawyers wrote in the Wednesday filing.
In Wednesday's filing, she again asked the court to remove Joey and Janie as co-trustees of the trust for breach of fiduciary duty, to hold them in contempt of court, to find Jim, Johnny and Jesse liable for aiding and abetting a violation of the 2017 court order, and for her to be reimbursed for legal costs. Sources close to the family have told ESPN that there have been settlement talks between the two sides, but it's unclear how much progress has been made leading up to the scheduled December hearing.
Despite the public hedge, Iger reaffirmed his commitment to Jeanie to maintain a role after the sale closes when they met, those sources said. They have stayed in regular contact since then. Whether she'll be able to do so -- and what that role ultimately is -- depends on how the latest round of family discord is resolved.
Jeanie Buss learned of Mark Walter's agreement to sell his shares of the Lakers hours before ESPN reported the news on the morning of Aug. 12, according to multiple sources with knowledge of their conversations. She was stunned, according to sources close to her. This was not what she had planned for or expected when she reached out to Walter in 2021 to suggest he purchase Philip Anschutz's shares to become the largest minority shareholder in the franchise, and with it, hold the first right of refusal to buy the Buss family's shares for a controlling interest in the team.
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The legal jostling between five of the Buss siblings against their sister, Lakers acting governor Jeanie Buss, continued Friday with an additional filing submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court. The 29-page document, reviewed by ESPN, was filed on behalf of Joey and Janie Buss in opposition to their sister and her previous petition seeking to remove them as co-trustees and void the siblings' 5-1 vote to sell the family's remaining stake in the team. "This dispute turns on (1) who had the authority to decide whether the Trust would continue, (2) what event would terminate it, and (3) what the Trustee Respondents were required to do once that event occurred," Friday's filing says. "The Trust's text unambiguously answers each question."
The new filing not only argues Joey and Janie's right to hold the vote to sell and highlights language in the trust that states a sale requires a two-thirds majority by the siblings, which they exceeded, but it also challenges the breadth of Jeanie's rights as a co-trustee and acting governor. The filing follows a 36-page opposition submitted to the court Oct. 7 by all five siblings -- Jimmy, Johnny and Jesse included -- that argued their right to terminate the family trust and sell their remaining 17.82% of the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger's ownership group after the pair agreed to purchase the Lakers from Mark Walter at a $12.5 billion valuation. Both filings come in response to Jeanie, through her lawyer Adam Streisand, submitting a 97-page petition to the court in August aimed to block the sale of the family's stake in the team to Kushner and Iger, who, sources told ESPN, are expected to take control of the franchise following an NBA board of governors vote in November.
Friday's filing contends that a 2017 court decision that instructed the trustees to take "whatever actions are reasonably available" to have Jeanie appointed as the controlling owner while the family trust holds Lakers stock became moot once a vote was held to terminate the trust to facilitate a sale. "It does not require the Trust to remain in existence for Jeanie's lifetime ... or require the Trust to maintain any minimum ownership percentage," the filing states.
Additionally, the new filing argues that Jeanie's petition, which held her siblings in contempt, lacks merit and asks the court to dismiss the claim. The siblings exercised voting rights expressly granted to them as beneficiaries, which the filing argues cannot constitute contempt or aiding and abetting a fiduciary breach. "There is deep irony in [Jeanie] alleging that it is [Joey and Janie] who are putting their self-interests first," the filing says. "The entire petition [originally filed by Jeanie] is predicated on the notion that rights expressly granted to the beneficiaries by [the trust] should be subjugated to [Jeanie's] personal interest in remaining controlling owner. [Jeanie's] hypocrisy should not go unnoticed."
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It also addresses Jeanie's side agreement with Walter when he took over the team in October 2025 that arranged for her to remain director and controlling owner for five years, subject to NBA approval. The filing contends that Jeanie is only acting in her own self-interests to preserve her position with the Lakers by preventing the sale that has already been voted in agreement on by her five siblings.
According to a source with knowledge of the siblings’ thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing legal dispute, their goal is for the Lakers’ sale to Kushner’s ownership group to close without legal delays. The siblings also want to ensure that any arrangement that could allow for Jeanie Buss to retain shares in the Lakers be offered equally to all other siblings.
Shams Charania: The five Buss siblings who voted to sell the family trust’s Lakers shares – Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse – filed in courts their formal opposition Wednesday to Jeanie Buss’ petition seeking to prevent the sale. This comes after unresolved settlement discussions. Statement: "Jimmy, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss, the five of six siblings who voted to sell the Trust’s shares in the Lakers, today filed their formal opposition, demonstrating that Jeanie Buss’s petition is legally and factually baseless. "While discussions among the siblings continue, their focus remains on facilitating the proposed transaction and the Trust’s participation in it, while ensuring that all beneficiaries, including Jeanie, are treated equally. "Today’s filing is a necessary step to protect those interests and ensure the transaction proceeds on schedule."