The Lakers confirmed that Joey and Jesse Buss, who both had been executives with the team, are no longer with the franchise.
The announcement was made Thursday in a move many figured would come later with changes to the Lakers’ basketball operations department after Mark Walter became the majority owner. The sale was at a $10-billion valuation and was approved by the NBA board of governors in October.
According to a person not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, everything with the Lakers is being evaluated and that included firing scouts on Thursday.
It was felt that starting the process now was the best course of action to take, according to one person who spoke on condition of anonymity, rather than wait.
Joey Buss was an alternate governor and vice president of research and development with the Lakers while Jesse was the team’s assistant general manager.
“We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons,’ Joey and Jesse Buss said in a statement to ESPN, which first broke the story. “Thank you 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 of it all.”
Their dad was Dr. Jerry Buss, who transformed the Lakers into a global franchise after buying the team, along with the Kings and the Forum, in 1979 for $67.5 million. Both Joey and Jesse worked alongside their sister, Jeanie Buss, who will continue to be the Lakers’ primary team governor for the foreseeable future.
Joey was team president and CEO of the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, and Jesse was the Lakers’ director of scouting. Each, along with their siblings, are still minority owners of the franchise.
The two were given a lot of credit for helping the Lakers find and develop Austin Reaves, Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Max Christie.
The Lakers didn’t have a comment about the Buss brothers no longer being with the team.
“Yeah, I found out this morning that it was going to happen,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said after practice. “But I don’t have any comment on personnel decisions as it relates to the organization.”
The Lakers signed general manager Rob Pelinka to a contract extension in April and extended Redick‘s contract in September.
The sale of the Lakers was finalized on Oct. 30.
Fresh off winning a World Series with the Dodgers, Walter, who had been a minority owner of the Lakers since he bought 27% of the franchise with Todd Boehly in 2021, promptly sat courtside for the next Lakers home game on Nov. 2. He looked on when the Lakers honored the world champion Dodgers at a home game on Nov. 5.
Walter was part of the group that purchased the Dodgers for $2 billion in 2012. Since then, the team has won three World Series titles in five appearances with 13 consecutive playoff berths.
The swift reorganization process with the Lakers differs from Walter’s history with L.A.’s other pro sports headliner. After Walter bought the Dodgers, general manager Ned Colletti stayed with the organization through the 2014 season.
In addition to becoming the highest-spending team in baseball under the new ownership group, the Dodgers also bolstered their analytics department, improved nutrition programs for major and minor league players, and expanded clubhouses with the latest physical therapy technologies.
The post Executives Joey and Jesse Buss fired by the Lakers appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
