Despite selling the majority share of the team, Jeanie Buss looks set to remain as the governor for the next half-decade.
The Buss family’s sale of their majority share of the Lakers, surprising in its own right, came with an interesting caveat that Jeanie Buss would remain the governor of the team.
While the immediate comparisons of Mark Cuban’s situation in Dallas came to the forefront, it appears that this will be a different situation due to one key aspect: Buss has her agreement in writing.
When Cuban sold the team but agreed to remain in charge, it was a handshake agreement that was thrown to the side pretty quickly as Cuban stepped away from the team. However, things won’t play out the same in LA.
According to an article from Dan Woike of The Athletic on Wednesday, Jeanie’s agreement to remain as the team’s governor is for at least the next five seasons.
Per a team source, Buss’ agreement with Walter and the NBA stipulates that she’ll remain the team’s governor for at least the next five seasons.
In one sense, this will help ease the transition from one ownership group to the next. The Buss family has been a fixture with the Lakers since the 1970s and, whenever the day comes when they aren’t the front-facing people in the foundation, it will be weird.
This makes the process a little bit smoother and it keeps a familiar face in charge for the Lakers while also not being limited by their lack of finances compared to Walter.
At the same time, though, how does Buss being the governor work logistically when it’s Walter’s money she’s spending? Is she going to serve as the middle person between the Lakers’ decision-makers and Walter?
There are still some questions that will need answers, and those answers won’t come for some time. The sale of the Lakers isn’t likely to be completed for a number of months and, even then, it’ll take some time to see how things actually work out.
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