The NBA world was greeted with shocking news on Wednesday when it was announced that the Buss family would be selling their majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers’ sale was valued at $1o million and majority ownership would belong to Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of TWG Global. But even after the Lakers’ sale, Jeanie Buss still plans to have a major role within the organization.

While Jeanie Buss will no longer hold majority ownership following the sale of the Lakers, she is expected to remain as team governor and oversee day-to-day operations, as per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Buss’ role with the team is supposed to differ from Mark Cuban’s role after he sold majority ownership of the Dallas Mavericks, although it’s unclear how that would be handled.

Cuban was reportedly supposed to maintain a similar role with the Mavericks, but it never happened and the team traded franchise star Luka Doncic, a move that Cuban has said he would have never done.

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In the Lakers’ case, Walter had been a minority owner of the team since 2021, and reportedly Buss maintaining control of day-to-day operations was always part of a potential sale agreement. The Buss family has owned the Lakers since 1979 when Jerry Buss first purchased the franchise. Under the Buss family, the Lakers have won 11 NBA championships with the most recent coming in 2020.

With LeBron James’ potential retirement sometime on the horizon, Walter and the Lakers appear primed for the future with Doncic as the new franchise player. General manager Rob Pelinka is tasked with building a contending roster around Doncic following the team’s disappointing elimination in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Among the top items of business for the Lakers this offseason is James’ contract. The Lakers star can opt into his deal for next season, or he can opt out and sign a new contract with the team.