On Friday afternoon, the Los Angeles Times broke a story that Lakers president Jeanie Buss had blocked an attempt by her brothers to take over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lawyers had to get involved and, apparently, a temporary restraining order was filed on Friday to prevent a board of directors meeting for the team from going forward. The plan, reportedly, involved Jim Buss and Johnny Buss, Jeanie's brothers, proposing four new board members that did not include their sister.
In order for her to be controlling owner, Jeanie has to be on the board of directors.
However, the restraining order sent a clear message that the plan would not work, so the brothers withdrew their request, and Jeanie Buss also withdrew the temporary restraining order. The meeting to elect new board members has since been cancelled.
So, what exactly went down?
Well, thankfully, Ramona Shelbourne of ESPN managed to break down the madness on Twitter by explaining that Jeanie Buss is identified as the controlling owner in the Buss family trust, and thus, removing her from the board would be in violation of the trust.
The attempt fixated on using a technicality that if Jeanie Buss was no longer a board member, she could not be the controlling owner. However, Jeanie Buss' side argued that since she is listed as the controlling owner in the trust, she must retain a position on the board, so this attempt would be against the trust left behind by former Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss.
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So removing Jeanie Buss as a director would be in violation of the trust's provision that the controlling owner also be a director. Get it? — Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) March 3, 2017
Seemingly, Jeanie Buss has the trust on her side, and so, her lawyers went so far as to ask for a trial date to resolve this matter once and for all. Shelbourne reports that the trial date is set for May 15.
While Jeanie Buss retaining power and getting around the challenge from her siblings could be viewed as a positive affirmation of her power and legal right to make the sweeping changes she recently untook, including firing her brother Jim, the fact that this challenge arose is a harsh reminder that the Buss family is hardly on the same page or working together.
Filing a restraining order, no matter how temporary, against siblings is never a good look for a family.
This most recent saga seems to reveal that Jim and Johnny, who are also board members, are in direct opposition to Jeanie. Meanwhile, Joey Buss and Jesse Buss both continue to be involved with the team under the new administration, led by Earvin "Magic" Johnson.
The only sibling seemingly not caught up in this family drama is Janie Buss.
