For years, the Lakers treated being a family-run franchise as a point of pride. No other team, for better or for worse, operated like the Lakers.
But the notion of being family-run has taken on a different
meaning over much of the last decade with Thursday being just the latest example. In a surprising move, the team terminated both Joey and Jesse Buss, two figures who were seen as bright spots of a front office that has endured plenty of criticism.
Predictably, the drama followed in due course.
First, in addition to revealing they voted against the sale of the team, the brothers offered a statement to Shams Charania of ESPN that gave a pretty clear indication of their feelings.
“Dr. Buss’ idea was for Joey and I to run basketball operations one day. But Jeanie has effectively kept herself in place with her siblings fired.”
Then, Jesse gave an exclusive interview to Dan Woike of The Athletic, detailing plenty more behind the scenes. He spoke of the growing disconnect between him and the front office, including the fact that he hasn’t talked to his sister Jeanie or general manager Rob Pelinka in five months despite holding the titles of assistant general manager and director of scouting.
I think typically that’s how things go, and you know, whenever a franchise is sold, there’s a restructuring of the basketball operations department. Obviously, over the last two years, I’ve been dealing with quite a bit of health issues. I’m currently undergoing treatment for that. And I kind of noticed around the same time that things were different within our organization, within the front office and just the basketball operations department. I kind of felt siloed quite a bit, dating back to before, I guess, the 2023 draft. And I kind of didn’t think much of it.
But as time went on and there was a lack of communication between not only my sister and I, but the organization as a whole while I was combating various health issues, I kind of felt like the writing was on the wall. The sale of the team happening kind of more or less just solidified it in my mind. And I just more or less expected it. Obviously this is a job I’ve loved for a very long time. And I love this organization. I love the fans. I love the city of Los Angeles. It’s pretty much all I’ve known my entire life.
This has been pretty par for the course of the years. Few things have been “normal” about the Lakers as a result of being run by the Buss family. At least in this instance, it doesn’t seem like Joey and Jesse are going to attempt a coup to force Jeanie out, unlike their older brothers, something that still feels too insane to have really happened.
All of this is very silly and underlines many of the front office issues the Lakers have had over the last decade, choosing to operate and act more like a messy reality TV show than as the biggest NBA franchise in the world.
If the Lakers want to operate like a serious organization, then Thursday should mark the end of that era.
Serious organizations do not finance comedy shows written about their front office. Serious organizations do not operate on nepotism to the degree the Lakers have. Serious organizations do not have rumors of a shadow general manager. Serious organizations do not have coup attempts.
But the Lakers haven’t operated like a serious organization over the last decade. They’ve opted against flexing the financial muscle that should come with being the biggest franchise in the sport. Instead, they’ve elevated friends of the owner to far-too-prominent positions and turned the “mom and pop Lakers” gag into a frustrating reality by too often choosing the cheaper available option.
Having minority (and very recently majority) owners also hold notable decision-making roles in the front office is how power dynamics get blurred and drama starts.
Or, put another way, it’s not how serious organizations run.
You know who has been a serious organization for years now? The Dodgers under Mark Walter.
They’ve become a dynasty in baseball with one of the best front offices and the willingness to act like the powerhouse franchise they are. Walter took over the Dodgers at a time when things were an absolute mess in their front office and turned them into perennial title contenders.
Thursday, then, is hopefully the start of the Lakers operating like a similarly serious organization…as well as moving on from their mess, too.
In an ideal world, the Lakers would move on from the Buss family entirely, Jeanie included. Right now, she holds a role that still really lacks clarity. Despite being a minority owner, she is the governor of the team.
Ultimately, she doesn’t have final say on matters anymore. It’s Walter who is in charge now and it seems hard to believe he empowered her to make decisions to spend his money in any meaningful way.
This is not a family-run business anymore and Jeanie clearly doesn’t want it to be one anymore as, over the last 10 years, she has fired all of her brothers who have worked in the front office. It would be best for the Lakers if she followed them out the door.
At least for now, that seems unlikely, though it is hard to imagine she spends anywhere close to all five years as the team governor as was reported.
Instead, solace can be taken in that the Lakers moved on from the brothers as well as the scouting department that worked under Jesse. With Jeanie being the only member of the family still standing, this hopefully also marks the end of the drama that has shrouded this franchise for a decade.
The Lakers have been unserious for far too long. It’s time for them to act like a serious organization and move on from the Buss family.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on BlueSky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
