If you haven’t had a good groan recently, prepare yourselves.
On Wednesday, Baxter Holmes of ESPN published an extensive post on the Buss family and the drama surrounding them. The piece has many details
about the recent sale and the crumbling relationship between the siblings.
Included in that were questions from the Buss family, namely Joey, Jesse and Janie, about Jeanie’s knowledge of the sale ot Mark Walter and potential secret negotiations that took place. Those claims were based on the notion that Jeanie’s inner circle, which includes Kurt and Linda Rambis, Lakers senior vice president of finance and chief financial officer Joe McCormack and Dan Grigsby, the team’s chief legal counsel, would receive bonuses as part of the sale.
One person with knowledge of the events said that those people included Linda and Kurt Rambis, Grigsby, McCormack and Harris, the team’s president of business operations.
Linda Rambis stood to pocket $24 million, the same as McCormack, Grigsby and Harris. Kurt, meanwhile, stood to make $8 million.
The figures were a nod, of all things, to Kobe Bryant, who wore the numbers 24 and 8 during his 20-year Lakers career.
Oh BROTHER.
For the record, these payouts weren’t guaranteed to be made public. There was a chance this never came out. Does that make the payouts being tributes to Kobe Bryant cornier or more earnest? Personally, it led me to rolling my eyes upon reading it, so you can guess which side of the fence I land on that one.
The anecdote comes in the story as context to the belief that many of the Buss siblings have that Jeanie wasn’t necessarily given an offer by Walter, but instead did some negotiating before presenting it to the rest of her siblings.
When she learned of the number, Janie asked for specifics, she told ESPN. Who was getting bonuses? How much were they getting? She was never given them.
“I just want the truth,” she said. “I’m not saying they don’t deserve it.”
She added, “What it comes down to is the negotiation should have involved all of us. Instead, the deals were made behind closed doors and then presented to all of us.”
The general tone of the article is one of Jeanie losing the trust and support of all of her siblings. It details Joey and Jesse being a bit blindsided by their firing, along with Janie and Johnny.
While all the siblings still got their nine-figure payouts, it does speak to how much the dynamic has deteriorated between them.
Don’t worry, though, guys. The Rambis got their payouts still.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
