To plenty of people, the Los Angeles Lakers seem synonymous with drama, at least to a certain extent. But what is happening right now regarding their ownership situation seems absurd.
Last week, Mark Walter agreed to sell his majority stake in the franchise, a stake he had purchased from the Buss family just 10 months ago, to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger. Then on Monday of this week, five of the six Buss siblings — except for Jeanie Buss, the team’s governor — voted to sell their remaining 17.8% stake to Kushner and Iger.
The heads of Lakers fans have been spinning as a result, and there is lots of uncertainty surrounding the franchise as a result.
The Buss family has owned at least part of the Lakers since 1979, when the late Dr. Jerry Buss purchased them from Jack Kent Cooke. Byron Scott, one of their stars from the Showtime era of the 1980s, said that the elder Buss would’ve been unhappy with this current ownership saga, via Lakers Nation.
“I don’t think any of us know exactly what he would be thinking, but if I had to guess, I don’t think he would be very happy with the state of the Lakers right now,” Scott told Lakers Nation at the 26th annual Harold & Carole Pump Foundation celebrity dinner. “It’s a different time, there’s no doubt about that. Unfortunately, for guys like myself who played when Dr. Buss was here and this organization was considering and properly was the greatest organization in all of sports because of the way he ran it and because of his geniusness and his vision, because he was a visionary, yeah, I don’t think he would be very happy right now. And I never thought in my lifetime that I would see anybody or any other organization or company or corporation owning the Los Angeles Lakers either.”
One of the questions concerning the team’s ownership situation right now is how Kushner and Iger will run things and whether they will prioritize winning championships or merely look to maximize profits. Above all else, Scott hopes the new ownership creates the type of atmosphere and environment that the elder Buss did.
“I’m not that deep into it like that, you know what I’m saying? I would hope that they would take a page from Dr. Buss’ book and just remember how he treated his employees, how he treated his players,” Scott added. “He treated everybody equally. He didn’t treat anybody no different. He didn’t treat Magic (Johnson) any differently than he treated Wes Matthews. So I would hope that they would take a page out of that and just remember that even though you bought an unbelievable franchise, you still want to make it kind of like a family. That’s what the Buss family did. That’s what Dr. Buss really talked to us about was making it a family. And we all felt a part of that family. That’s why all of us to this day, we still bleed purple and gold. We’re still very proud of the fact that we played in an unbelievable era under an unbelievable owner.”
The elder Buss passed away in 2013 after the franchise had reached the NBA Finals 16 times and won 10 world championships under his leadership. Since then, with the younger Buss serving as its governor and its controlling owner until last year, it won the 2020 NBA title but has missed the playoffs seven times and advanced past the first round of the postseason just three times.
The younger Buss is reportedly open to a scenario where she would have at least the 15% minimum ownership stake required to remain governor of the Lakers. When Walter made his purchase last October, an agreement was made where she would retain her governor role through 2030.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Byron Scott: Dr. Jerry Buss would be unhappy with Lakers’ current saga
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire | USA TODAY Network
