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The Los Angeles Lakers have a much different look today than even a few months after the Buss family sold a majority stake in the franchise.
Jeanie Buss sold her stake to the current chairman and controlling owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers in June after owning the majority of the franchise since 1979.
However, an extensive report from ESPN made it seem as though the writing had been on the wall amid tensions inside the front office, as well as between Buss and LeBron James.
ESPN reported that Buss had not been happy about speculation that James had chosen the Lakers during his free agency in 2018, rather than the Lakers seeking him out and acquiring him.
But more recently, Buss “privately grumbled” about “what she felt was James’ outsized ego and the overt control that he and Klutch Sports, which represents both James and Anthony Davis, exerted over the organization at times” while James and Davis were teammates.
A decision the Lakers made in 2024 that created controversy, though, was their selection of James’ son, Bronny, in the NBA Draft. Despite struggles in his lone year at USC — largely because of recovering from a sudden cardiac arrest — the Lakers selected James with the 55th overall pick.
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The speculation has been that James had an influence on the selection, and ESPN’s reporting seemed to confirm that.
“And when the Lakers drafted James’ son Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, Jeanie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt that he wasn’t,” ESPN reported. “That summer, as she discussed a new contract for James, Jeanie seemed more resigned to the fact that they’d have to do it — almost begrudgingly accepting that they’d take a massive PR hit by not doing so.”
Representatives for James and Klutch did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Buss reportedly considered trading James to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2022.
When Jerry Buss died in 2013, the Lakers were passed down to his children, and Jeanie has served as the team’s governor ever since. She has continued to oversee day-to-day operations, and reports state she will remain the governor for five more years.
The Lakers won 11 of their 17 championships under Buss ownership, with their last in 2020. That is their only title, though, since Jerry Buss died.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
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