One constant for the Lakers over the last decade is that the Buss family will create drama. Whether it was coup attempts, firings or general infighting, the siblings have been messy in so many ways.
Much of that has happened under Adam Silver’s watch. While he isn’t responsible for the Buss family, he hasn’t done much to tamp down the flames of a situation threatening to boil over throughout the years either.
Owner oversight, in fact, has not been a particularly strong aspect of his performance as commissioner.
Some might say it’s an area he’d Aspire to improve.
All that makes it a bit funny that it sounds like he’s going to attempt to step in and fix the latest, and maybe final, Buss family drama. Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal, in a piece on the recent influx of sales of NBA teams, reported that Silver is expected to try to help calm things down in Los Angeles.
The Lakers’ situation isn’t as clear cut, with sources believing Commissioner Adam Silver — who has always been close with Jeanie Buss — will try to help smooth over the Buss family chaos.
Hey man, good luck!
Based on how he’s handling the situation with Steve Ballmer and the Clippers, is there any confidence that he’ll figure things out? In his defense, it’s different situations with different relationships. He has a much better relationship with Jeanie after years of working together than he would Ballmer, if we comparing them.
But at the same time, what’s he going to say to her? He may have a good relationship with Jeanie, but he also has a good relationship with Bob Iger.
This all just feels like a mess that Silver won’t be able to fix. He had a decade to try to calm things down with the family, if he was really worried about it. All that he’s worried about now is that one of his friends might not be able to buy an NBA team.
Color me skeptical that he’s going to have any luck smoothing things over. It’s way, way too late for that now.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
