Lakers sale: Walter and Kushner settle terms as Jeanie Buss fights her siblings in court

Lakers owner Mark Walter and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner have agreed on every outstanding term of the sale of the team at a $12.5 billion valuation, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported last Friday. The two met at Walter's home in Florida on Thursday, Oct. 29, and are expected to sign the formal agreement soon, her sources said, after which the NBA will review the deal.

Kushner has assured Walter he has raised all of the money needed, according to Shelburne. He and former Disney chief executive Bob Iger reached the agreement to buy the club from Walter in August, in talks that, by Shelburne's longer account, came together over 72 hours while Iger was working the phones from Italy. We found no report of a signing as of Friday afternoon.

The league's review is not the only thing standing in the way. The sale has reopened a fight inside the Buss family, and that fight is now before a judge.

The Buss family's shares

When Walter bought control of the Lakers from the Buss family in 2025, at a $10 billion valuation, the family kept a 17.82% stake, just over the NBA's 15% minimum for the family to keep control, plus go-along rights that let it sell alongside a later deal. On Aug. 17, ESPN reported that five of the six siblings, Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss, had voted to use those rights and sell the family's remaining shares to the Iger and Kushner group. ESPN put each sibling's additional take from a full sale at $371 million.

Jeanie Buss, the Lakers' governor, is trying to stop them. In a filing last Wednesday, reviewed by ESPN's Baxter Holmes, her lawyers accused the siblings of a "cloak and dagger" campaign through the media and argued that a 2017 court order requires co-trustees Janie and Joey to vote to keep her as controlling owner. She asked the court to remove the two as co-trustees, hold them in contempt, find the other three brothers liable for helping breach the order, and repay her legal costs.

The siblings have argued in earlier filings that they were exercising voting rights the family trust gives them and have asked the court to dismiss her claim. A hearing is set for Dec. 8 in Los Angeles Superior Court. Holmes reported that the two sides have held settlement talks, with no clear sign of progress.

There is also a question of timing. Shelburne reported that the go-along rights can technically be used only once Walter formally tells the family he has signed a deal to sell, which had not happened as of last Friday.

What it means for the team

For now, nothing has changed on the floor. Walter's 2025 agreement with the family keeps Jeanie Buss in charge for five seasons, ESPN has reported, and the front office built this year's roster around Luka Doncic. The Lakers are 7-2 and host Portland tonight. The schedule is on the team page.