Jeanie Buss Lakers Sale Ignites Family Feud

Merlin sees the Buss children walked away wealthy after the $10 billion sale of the Lakers, but the deal peeled back old wounds and stirred fresh distrust inside the family. ESPN reports "sibling infighting and subterfuge," lingering questions about the family trust and whether "a sibling quietly took financial care of her allies," and even a shocking 2019 comment where Jeanie allegedly told Jesse he "should've never been born." After a unanimous vote to sell, reservations from Joey and Jesse and the recent firings of Joey, Jesse and Janie have left the post-Jerry era unsettled. Merlin senses the patriarch once held the family together, and without him the house shows cracks. The on-court product may not suffer today, but the front office and brand could be shadowed by legal knots and public drama for some time.