The battle over the Buss family’s remaining ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers is heading back to court.
Jeanie Buss has filed a petition in Los Angeles Superior Court challenging her five siblings’ vote to sell the family’s remaining shares, while also seeking to remove Janie and Joey Buss as co-trustees of the family trust, according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Jeanie argues retaining enough ownership to maintain control is in the trust’s best interest because of the franchise’s “continuously skyrocketing value.”
The dispute comes after Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss voted to join Mark Walter’s proposed sale to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner at a $12.5 billion valuation, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Jeanie’s filing claims she was never part of that decision.
“Jeanie never agreed to any sale, was never consulted, and was never even informed,” Shelburne wrote.
Her attorney, Adam Streisand, has described the siblings’ actions as “devious behavior” that was “orchestrated as part of a calculated effort to create a public fait accompli before Jeanie could respond.”
The case also brings the family’s 2017 legal battle back into focus. That dispute ended with a court order requiring Jeanie, Joey and Janie, as co-trustees, to ensure Jeanie remained the Lakers’ controlling owner.
Her latest filing alleges that agreement has now been violated.
“Janie and Joey have now brazenly, knowingly and intentionally violated the 2017 Order by secretly signing a purported resolution — void on its face — to sell a portion of [family trust] the Lakers,” Wednesday’s filings alleges.
The other five Buss siblings have made it clear they aren’t backing away from their decision.
“Johnny, Jimmy, Janie, Joey and Jesse have made the decision to sell the family’s remaining stake, and we remain united in that decision,” a statement form the five siblings said. “We intend to move forward thoughtfully, respectfully and through the appropriate process.”
Jeanie has support from Lakers minority owners Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and Ed Roski, who have also elected to retain their stakes.
Now, nearly a decade after the family’s previous courtroom fight over control of the Lakers, Jeanie is once again asking a judge to intervene.
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