Sports
Buss Brothers Ousted From Lakers Weeks After Team's Sale: Report
The ouster comes weeks after the team's $10 billion purchase by businessman Mark Walter.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Weeks after the team's $10 billion purchase by businessman Mark Walter, two members of the Buss family confirmed Thursday they've been ousted from their management positions with the team.
Joey and Jesse Buss, both younger brothers of Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, told ESPN they had both been removed from their front office positions. Joey Buss was the team's alternate governor and vice president of research and development. Jesse Buss was an assistant general manager.
"We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons," Joey and Jesse Buss told ESPN in a joint statement. "Thank you to Laker Nation for embracing our family every step of the way. We wish things could be different with the way our time ended with the team. At times like this, we wish we could ask our dad what he would think about it all."
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The team confirmed the move to ESPN but declined to comment further.
Their father, Jerry Buss, purchased the Lakers in 1979 for $67.5 million in a deal that also included the NHL's Kings and The Forum. Buss sold his controlling interest in the Kings in 1988 and what is now Kia Forum in 1999. Following his death in 2013, Lakers ownership passed to his children, with Jeanie Buss serving as team governor ever since.
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The ousted brothers will retain their minority ownership interest in the team, ESPN reported.
Jesse Buss told ESPN that his father's idea "was for Joey and I to run basketball operations one day. But Jeanie has effectively kept herself in place with her siblings fired."
Jeanie Buss removed her older brother Jim Buss as head of basketball operations in 2017, replacing him with Magic Johnson.
In October, Walter — who already owns part of the Dodgers, Sparks and Chelsea Football Club — finalized a $10 billion purchase of the Lakers, following unanimous approval of the deal by the NBA Board of Governors.
Under the deal, Jeanie Buss remained as the team's governor and oversees day-to-day operations of the Lakers. Walter has been a minority owner of the Lakers since 2021. He is chairman and CEO of TWG Global, a diversified holding company.
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