The Los Angeles Lakers have never been a franchise that does things quietly, and the latest chapter in their ownership saga is proving to be no exception. In just over a year, the team has been at the center of a seismic shift in control, and now a second sale has stirred up a fresh wave of chaos. This time, the drama centers on ESPN’s lead NBA insider, Shams Charania, and a report that set off a firestorm among the Buss family. According to Charania, the Buss siblings voted to sell their remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers to incoming majority owners Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. That sale, if it goes through, would be part of a massive $12.5 billion deal with current majority owner Mark Walter, who had acquired the controlling interest from the Buss family just last year. On the surface, it sounds like a straightforward business transaction, but beneath it lies a deeply personal family feud, a contested vote, and a public relations mess that has put one of sports journalism’s most trusted reporters in an uncomfortable spotlight. The question now isn’t just whether the sale happens, but whether the process was ever legitimate in the first place—and whether the truth was accurately reported the first time around.
To understand why this vote matters so much, you have to look back at the unusual structure of the Lakers’ ownership. When the Buss family sold a majority stake to Mark Walter last year, Jeanie Buss remained as the team’s governor, the person who represents the franchise in NBA board meetings and makes the final basketball-related decisions. That arrangement worked because NBA rules require a governor to own at least 15% of the team, and Jeanie’s remaining stake, combined with family trust arrangements, kept her above that threshold. But if the Buss family sells its remaining 17.8% stake, Jeanie would no longer meet that requirement, which means her time as governor would effectively come to an end. That is a monumental shift, not just for the franchise but for the family legacy, because Jeanie has long been seen as the chosen successor to her father, Dr. Jerry Buss, who built the Lakers into a global powerhouse. Her brother, Joey Buss, and sister, Jesse Buss, have reportedly been pushing for a sale, while Jeanie has resisted, citing the terms of the family trust that she says ensure she remains the controlling owner. This is not a simple disagreement over money; it is a clash over who gets to carry on the Lakers legacy, and whether the family’s original vision will survive.
The controversy exploded when Charania initially reported that all six Buss siblings voted in favor of selling the remaining stake to Kushner and Iger. That detail was crucial because it suggested unanimity, that even Jeanie had finally agreed to step aside. But then, almost as quickly as the report appeared, it was quietly changed. The article was updated to say that five of the six siblings voted in favor, not all six. That one-word shift made all the difference, because it revealed that Jeanie was not on board. Her lawyer quickly issued a fiery statement calling out Charania’s reporting and accusing two of her siblings, Joey and Jesse, of feeding false information to the ESPN insider for years. The statement described a “years-long pattern” in which Joey and Jesse allegedly leaked “false, defamatory and pernicious information” to Charania with the malicious goal of harming the Lakers, simply because Jeanie was chosen by her father to lead the team. It was a stunning accusation, not just because it publicly aired the family’s dirty laundry, but because it directly challenged the credibility of one of the most influential reporters in the NBA. And while the statement was undeniably one-sided, it raised a legitimate question: how could a reporter as plugged in as Charania get such a central detail wrong?
ESPN’s response to the controversy did little to calm the waters. Instead of issuing a formal correction, the network simply updated the information in the article, with a spokesperson telling Semafor’s Max Tani, “The story evolved as we continued reporting, and we didn’t believe a correction was warranted.” That explanation feels remarkably thin, especially for a story of this magnitude. In journalism, when you initially report that a vote was unanimous and then change it to five out of six, that is not evolution, it is a correction. The original report did not just miss a minor detail; it misrepresented the entire dynamics of the vote. It made it seem as though Jeanie Buss had accepted her fate, when in reality she was actively fighting it. For a top NBA insider, this is the kind of mistake that erodes trust. ESPN may argue that the story was fluid and that new information came to light, but the way they handled it—quietly editing the article without acknowledging the error—feels more like damage control than transparency. Whether or not Charania was intentionally misled by Joey and Jesse, as Jeanie’s lawyer claimed, the initial error set off a chain reaction that has put the entire reporting in doubt.
Even if the sale ultimately goes through, and Charania reports that the vote needed only four of the six siblings to pass, the omission of Jeanie’s opposition was not just a small factual error. It changed the story in a way that affected how fans and stakeholders viewed the situation. If the vote was five to one, with Jeanie strongly objecting, that is a very different narrative than a unanimous decision by a united family. The former suggests a fractured family, a bitter fight over the future of the Lakers, and a matriarch being pushed out against her will. The latter suggests a peaceful transition, an orderly succession, and a decision made with mutual consent. By initially reporting unanimity, Charania stripped the story of its tension and its authenticity. It also made Jeanie’s position look weaker than it actually was. In reality, she is fighting back, using legal arguments based on the family trust to assert that the vote is void. Her lawyer has made it clear that she does not view the sale as legitimate, and she is prepared to challenge it. Whether she will succeed is unclear, but the battle is far from over, and the reporting around it will continue to matter.
In the end, this saga is about more than just a basketball team changing hands. It is about a family wrestling with its own legacy, a media giant trying to protect its credibility, and a legendary franchise caught in the middle. The accusation that Joey and Jesse Buss have been feeding false information to Charania for years is a serious one, but it remains unproven, and Charania has a track record of being a reliable reporter with deep sources across the league. It is possible that he was misled this time, or it is possible that he was simply too hasty in rushing out a story that was still developing. Either way, the lack of a formal correction from ESPN is a disappointing move from a network that prides itself on journalistic standards. For Lakers fans, the off-court drama is exhausting, but it also speaks to how much the franchise means to people. The Buss family has always been fiercely protective of the Lakers, and now that protectiveness has turned into a legal and public relations war. As the sale process moves forward, one thing is certain: the story will not stay quiet for long. Whether it ends with Kushner and Iger taking control, with Jeanie Buss remaining as governor, or with some unlikely compromise, the path there will be messy, emotional, and anything but boring. And this time, the media will be watching just as closely as the fans, wondering whether the next report will hold up to scrutiny.