The LeBron Problem

But here's where it gets really interesting—Jeanie's resentment didn't stop with her siblings. According to multiple team sources, she also turned against the Lakers' star player, LeBron James.

Jeanie privately grumbled about what she felt was James' outsized ego and the overt control that he and Klutch Sports exerted over the organization. She didn't like that James was considered a savior for a foundering franchise when he arrived in 2018—she wanted credit for landing him, even though team sources have been adamant for years that James' camp informed the Lakers as early as 2017 that he was coming.

The relationship deteriorated further after the disastrous Russell Westbrook trade in July 2021. The team had made the trade in an effort to appease James, but the acquisition backfired catastrophically. Los Angeles went 33-49 and missed the playoffs. Jeanie privately bristled about what she felt was James' lack of accountability and the way he would shift blame onto others.

In 2022, multiple people said Jeanie privately mused about not giving James a contract extension and even about trading James, with the LA Clippers floated as a possibility. (This was before James received a no-trade clause in July 2024.)

And when the Lakers drafted James' son Bronny with the 55th pick in the 2024 draft, Jeanie privately remarked that James should be grateful for such a gesture, but she felt that he wasn't, people close to the team told ESPN.

That summer, as she discussed a new contract for James, Jeanie seemed more resigned to the fact that they'd have to do it—almost begrudgingly accepting that they'd take a massive PR hit by not doing so.

A Dynasty in Ruins

Let's talk about the on-court product, because that's what this is all about. The Lakers had missed the playoffs twice in 34 seasons under Jerry Buss. Under Jeanie? They've missed the playoffs seven times in 11 seasons.

They won 10 titles under Jerry. They've won one since. They posted the NBA's best winning percentage under Jerry. They've posted the 26th-best since.

Since the team moved from Minneapolis to Los Angeles, seven of the team's 11 worst seasons in terms of winning percentage—including the four worst—have all come since Jerry died and Jeanie took over.

That's not opinion, folks. That's what sports is all about—results. And the results have been abysmal.

The Family Betrayal

In early 2025, Joey and Jesse proposed selling only a minority stake (5-15%) to preserve family control and allow the brothers to eventually run basketball operations—their father's stated vision. Jeanie rejected this in favor of Walter's majority stake offer.

Here's the kicker: the $10 billion valuation figure matched what Joey and Jesse had proposed, raising serious questions about whether Jeanie secretly negotiated with Walter using their proposal as a pricing baseline.

Meanwhile, Jeanie's inner circle cleaned up. Linda Rambis received $24 million, Kurt Rambis got $8 million, and executives McCormack, Grigsby, and Harris each received $24 million—totaling $114 million in bonuses. The amounts referenced Kobe Bryant's jersey numbers (24 and 8).

In November 2025, Joey and Jesse were fired along with Jim, Johnny, and Janie. Only Jeanie retained a role as team governor.

Jesse later stated: "Dr. Buss' idea was for Joey and I to run basketball operations one day."

One team source summarized the sentiment: "At the end of the day, Jeanie just didn't want any more Buss family members to own the team."

Jerry Buss built an empire and wanted it to stay in the family for generations. Instead, it crumbled under the weight of resentment, ego, and dysfunction. The Lakers are still purple and gold, but they're no longer the Buss family's Lakers.

And honestly? After reading this, I'm not sure that's a bad thing.

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