In a shocking turn of events, the Los Angeles Lakers are terminating executives Joey and Jesse Buss from their representative roles in the front office.
ESPN’s Shams Charania shared the news via X.
The Los Angeles Lakers are reorganizing their basketball operations department and terminating executives Joey and Jesse Buss from their respective front office positions, effective immediately, the brothers told ESPN.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 20, 2025
Joey and Jesse released this statement moments after the news broke.
“We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons. Thank you to Laker Nation for embracing our family every step of the way. We wish things could be different with the way our time ended with the team. At times like this we wish we could ask our Dad what he would think about it all.”
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The brothers will maintain their minority ownership of the team after the Buss family sold their majority stake to Mark Walter.
In mid-June, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Buss family had reached an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Lakers to Walter, the CEO and chairman of TWG Global, who has been a stakeholder in the franchise since 2021.
Walter’s sports portfolio is already impressive. He owns the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, the newly launched Cadillac Formula One team, and a franchise in the Professional Women’s Hockey League. He’s been deeply involved in the sports world for years, and success seems to follow wherever he goes.
Under his leadership, the Dodgers have become one of the most respected and consistently dominant organizations in baseball over the past decade, winning three titles. With his expanded role in the Lakers, many expect that same winning culture could soon extend to the purple and gold.
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This move comes as quite a shock, considering the good work the two brothers have done for the franchise.
Jesse was the co-owner, assistant general manager and director of scouting for the Lakers. His focus was on the team’s draft process.
As for Joey, he was president of the team’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. The two brothers served as the team’s governors and controller owners after their father, Jerry Buss, passed away in 2013.
They led the Lakers to one title in 2020 under controlling owners. The Buss family as a collective won 11 titles as majority owners.
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