On Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers hit the floor for the first time in 2025-26 with LeBron James in the lineup, defeating the Utah Jazz in a blowout victory. James played relatively well, scoring 11 points on limited field goal attempts but facilitating well for his teammates in the win.
On Thursday, a major development was announced in the Lakers' front office hierarchy moving forward.
“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,” reported ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania on X, formerly Twitter.
The news comes just weeks after the Lakers' sale to new owner Mark Walter was finalized.
The Buss brothers then released a statement in reaction to the news.
“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,” they said, per Charania.
Meanwhile, it seems that Jeanie Buss is retaining her role as governor of the team, which could make for an awkward Thanksgiving dinner for the family next week.
Some Lakers fans have been clamoring for a shakeup to the team's front office structure for quite some time now, and now, that has come to pass.
Meanwhile, the Lakers will next hit the floor on Sunday on the road for a rematch against the Jazz.
