RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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With five of the six Buss siblings looking to sell their 17.8% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger just 10 months after selling their majority stake to Mark Walter, it is unknown exactly who will be in charge of the storied franchise.
Jeanie Buss, who is the team's governor, is the one Buss sibling opposed to selling that minority share. If the Buss family sells its portion, she will lose her position as governor. Earlier this month, Walter agreed to sell his majority share to Kushner and Iger, and that sale is expected to become official within several weeks.
According to a report by Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is expected to step in and help find some sort of solution to the Lakers' ownership saga.
"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."
If Silver does step in, it is unclear what that would entail. There have been other NBA franchises sold in recent months, and the new owners of those teams haven't necessarily been better than the previous owners. For example, Thomas Dundon, who bought the Portland Trail Blazers last year, has taken very aggressive measures to cut costs, while the Celtics traded away five-time All-Star Jaylen Brown earlier this summer under the new ownership regime of William Chisholm and Aditya Mittal.
The fear is that, at least conceviably, Kushner and Iger could run the Lakers with profits and not championships as their No. 1 priority. But that remains to be seen.
Despite all the criticism that Buss has gotten for how she has run the Lakers since her father, Dr. Jerry Buss, died in 2013, at least winning has seemed to be her top priority, even if many feel she has gone about that the wrong way.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Report: NBA commissioner could try to help Lakers ownership saga
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