When Dr. Jerry Buss passed away in 2013, he passed on his controlling ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to his six children, with each of them receiving equal voting rights. It was Jeanie Buss, however, who took over the helm as the team's governor.
Through the years, Jeanie made sure to make her own mark on the organization. In 2017, she made the controversial decision to fire then-general manager Mitch Kupchak as well as her own brother, Jim Buss, as vice president of basketball operations. Jeanie's rather unsavory relationship with her siblings was well-documented, but there was perhaps no clearer indication of the same than when she decided to remove her own brother from his high-ranking post with the Lakers.
In a recent interview with Scooby Axson of USA TODAY, Jeanie revealed her real motivation behind her contentious decision. According to the Lakers team owner, it was all about winning:
“That's what really caused the conflict between my brother and I,” she says.
“The way he was operating the team, we were making a nice home at the bottom of the standings year after year. That wasn't the brand that Dr. (Jerry) Buss created. No one has the formula to win a championship, but you always be relevant and be part of the conversation and give yourself a chance to win.”
To be fair, the Lakers were really bad during that time. Not even the late, great Kobe Bryant could pull them out of the deep hole they were in. Jeanie Buss was having none of this anymore, and she decided that it was time for a major change. Unfortunately for him, it was Jim who had to pay the price.
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