Is the Jeanie Buss-Lakers Sale Saga the Real-Life NBA ‘Succession’?

“You are not serious people” might be what Bob Iger and Josh Kushner are thinking about the Buss family right about now.

Days after Mark Walter sold the Lakers to Iger and Kushner in a massive $12.5 billion deal, the Buss family has reportedly chosen to sell its remaining stake (17.8%) in the franchise to the new majority owners. But—much like every episode of the HBO’s hit drama Succession—the plot thickens.

Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is contesting the attempt by her five siblings to sell her family’s stake in the team, according to a letter from Buss’s lawyer Adam Streisand. Buss, who has more or less taken charge of the organization since the death of her father Jerry in 2013, appears to be pushing back on the stunning move, one that would put an end to the Buss family’s decades-long stewardship of the iconic NBA franchise.

A familiar story. Enter the fictional Roy family.

For all of its rich people satire and classist commentary, Succession can be boiled down to a simple premise: how does a powerful family-run business change hands? Comparing the Roys to the Busses is not fair to the latter, in many ways. The HBO show’s supremely hateable characters are rumored to be inspired by Rupert Murdoch and his family, a real-life media dynasty and global empire whose power dynamics arguably operate at a much different level than that of the Buss household.

Still, there are some eerie similarities between the Roys and Busses that haven’t gone unnoticed. (Warning: spoilers ahead for those who haven’t finished the show).

Rewatching Succession through the lens of the Buss family drama

Jeanie Buss, Logan Roy, Succession, Los Angeles Lakers — HBO’s drama “Succession” mirrors what the Buss family is going through amid their reported attempt to sell their Lakers stake. | Emma McIntyre/Getty Images

Succession’s patriarch Logan Roy dies in Season 4 on the toilet of his private plane. Fitting, perhaps, for a ruthless tycoon who had long prioritized his business interests over the wellbeing of his children.

Immediately, Kendall, Shiv and Roman are thrust into the “succession” scheme and aren’t afraid of getting their shoes dirty to secure a foothold in Logan’s all-powerful media kingdom. A document from Logan’s safe names Kendall as his successor and simultaneously raises debate among the children over how legitimate Kendall’s claim to the throne is (“Dad said so,” Kendall matter-of-factly argues).

Kendall and Roman ultimately decide to take charge of Waystar Royco as co-CEOs while sidelining Shiv but promising to keep her involved in the operations. Feeling jilted, the ever-deceptive Shiv plots to weasel her way back into her dad’s empire, which includes forming an alliance with billionaire tech bro Lukas Matsson to get back at her brothers.

The King Lear-style drama ends with Shiv voting against Kendall’s plan to kill the deal with GoJo (Matsson’s company) and anoint himself, the eldest boy, as CEO. GoJo successfully acquires Waystar, Shiv holds hands with new CEO (and her husband) Tom Wambsgans and Kendall stares off into the setting sun. Absolute cinema.

Over in the NBA, Jerry Buss’s death in 2013 triggered a similar in-house dispute of his family business. At the time, the patriarch owned a whopping 66% share of the Lakers, whose value had exponentially grown in the decades following his purchase. Buss’s dream was always for the Lakers to remain in his family’s name and for the generational wealth he created to be passed down the line.

That didn’t happen.

Upon Buss’s death, six equal shares of the Lakers were divided among his six children and bound together by a family trust. Jeanie Buss took over her late father’s role as team governor and, by association, the most face-forward member of the Buss family helming the Lakers franchise, but her siblings weren’t always pleased with how she chose to run the ship.

Here’s an excerpt from ESPN’s tell-all piece about how the Buss family’s “infighting” drove them to sell their controlling majority stake to Mark Walter in late 2025:

Interviews with current and former Lakers staffers with direct knowledge of key events and sources close to and within the Buss family reveal the post-Jerry Buss era with the Lakers has been defined largely by sibling infighting and subterfuge, attempted coups and deep familial distrust.

Buss family tree (listed by seniority)
Jerry Buss	Family patriarch, died in 2013
Johnny Buss	Son
Jim Buss	Son
Jeanie Buss	Daughter
Janie Buss	Daughter
Joey Buss	Half-sibling
Jesse Buss	Half-sibling

One of the most dramatic examples of the Buss family’s years-long infighting came in March 2017 when the Los Angeles Times reported that Johnny and Jim attempted to oust Jeanie as Lakers’ president and controlling owner. After Jeanie replaced Jim with new Lakers vice president of basketball operations Magic Johnson, Johnny and Jim formed a plan to sap some of Jeanie’s power via an election for the team’s board of directors. The two brothers submitted four names for the board seats—none of whom were Jeanie. The plotted coup was thwarted by Jeanie, who in response filed a restraining order against her brothers.

“Clearly, the intention that my father had in the trust is that I would be named controlling owner, because he wrote the trust exactly the way the judge interpreted it. Those were his wishes,” Jeanie said of her brothers’ actions in a 2022 Hulu docuseries on the Lakers. “And they tried to disregard what their father wanted. That's a betrayal of all the hard work and what he did on our behalf to make this possible. I felt that there was this desire to remove me or stab me in the heart.”

That bitter sibling quarrel proved to be a defining moment during Jeanie’s stewardship of the Lakers, and one that may have changed her relationship with her family for good.

“From that point on, I've probably talked to Jeanie, I don't know, four or five times,” Johnny told ESPN. “And that's sad.”

Jeanie Buss battles her siblings on contentious Lakers sale: When will it end?

Earlier this week, the Buss family trust received the majority votes to allow trustees to sell its remaining 17.8% stake, according to ESPN. The move would strip Jeanie Buss of her title as team governor due to NBA guidelines that require controlling owners or governors to own at least 15% of a franchise.

The sale reportedly required four of six votes, and five of the six siblings voted to sell, per ESPN. Jeanie contested the sale via a letter from her lawyer that argued there can be no sale without the approval of the three remaining trustees: Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss.

MORE: Three Big Questions Circling the Lakers Amid Potential Sale of Buss Family’s Remaining Stake

The Buss siblings shared a statement on their collective decision to sell to Iger and Kushner shortly after Jeanie’s lawyer’s letter was made public:

“The Los Angeles Lakers have never been just a basketball team. They have been one of the greatest privileges of our lives. Our focus has always been on what we believe is best for the Lakers, the fans who have supported this franchise for generations and the greater Los Angeles community.

“Johnny, Jimmy, Janie, Joey and Jesse have made the decision to sell the family's remaining stake, and we remain united in that decision. We intend to move forward thoughtfully, respectfully and through the appropriate process.”

Statement from Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss after attorney of Jeanie Buss made clear she will battle her family members on selling their remaining 17.8% Lakers ownership stake:

The Los Angeles Lakers have never been just a basketball team. They have been one of the…
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 18, 2026

Including the shares from the Buss family, Iger and Kushner’s ownership stake in the Lakers would rise to approximately 83%.

As things stand, the Busses could be headed for another drama-filled, Succession-style family showdown that will probably get ugly. For Lakers fans hoping the chaos doesn’t spill over into the impending NBA season, they may take some solace in the fact that no matter who the team’s stewards are, L.A. still boasts the likes of superstar Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves and gets to step forward into a new dawn, rather than stare listlessly at the setting sun. “The future is real. The past is all made up,” Logan Roy tells Shiv in Scotland during Season 2 of the show. Focus on that.

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