Los Angeles Lakers owner/governor Jeanie Buss has seemed to have put an end to the ongoing feud with brother Jim Buss, after the latter tried a palace coup of sorts, calling a meeting of trusts behind her back along with brother Johnny Buss, in efforts to remove her capacity as controlling owner of the team.
Jim Buss sealed his own fate with the ill-managed move that resulted in Jeanie Buss setting a restraining order on him just in time to stop said meeting from happening, ultimately costing him his spot as a co-trustee of the four trusts through which the Buss family own 66 percent of the team.
“The message is clear here: Do not underestimate Jeanie Buss,” Jeanie's attorney, Adam Streisand, told the Los Angeles Times. “There is not going to be a palace coup. Not now. Not ever.”
According to a person familiar with the situation, Jim Buss resigned as co-trustee Thursday as part of a requirement by Jeanie to resolve the dispute, with her younger sister and staunch ally, Janie, replacing him — joining Jeanie and Johnny Buss as co-trustees.
The person also said there was no financial settlement with Jim Buss.
If he had not consented to the arrangement, Jeanie's attorneys had lined up asking the court to remove him as co-trustee. This agreement dissolves a May 15 trial to resolve the matter from happening.
“Despite the fact that I gave my brother Jim ample time to prove himself in his role… I could not allow the damage being done to the franchise over the past few years to continue,” Jeanie Buss said in court documents that deemed her brother Jim as “unfit” to run the Lakers franchise.
The Lakers will now head into the offseason with a completely revamped management from top to bottom, essentially cleaning house and starting new from the top down.
“Now with the Lakers having the ability to focus on the basketball court and not on the legal court, I think all Laker fans can breathe a sigh of relief,” Streisand said.
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