It was widely believed that after Mark Walter sold the Lakers to a consortium led by Bob Iger and Josh Kushner at a record $12.5 billion valuation, the Buss family members would vote to sell their remaining 17.8% stake, officially ending 47 years of family control. However, just hours later, current team president Jeanie Buss issued a strong statement through her attorney, declaring the family vote invalid and potentially illegal, and firmly defending her leadership position.

　　Earlier today, Buss family members issued a statement announcing they would exercise the "tag-along provision" signed with Walter, selling the 17.8% remaining Lakers stake held by the family trust at the $12.5 billion valuation to the Iger-Kushner consortium.

　　The family statement read: "We love the Lakers and the fans, but it's time to take this opportunity to exit gracefully." If the deal goes through, the Buss family would no longer hold any Lakers equity, and Jeanie Buss, whose stake would fall below the league's 15% threshold, would formally lose her controlling position as team president.

　　In response to the family's surprise move, Jeanie Buss, who did not participate in the vote, quickly retained prominent attorney Adam F. Streisand, who issued a statement calling the sale "completely untrue and invalid."

　　In a letter to the family members' lawyer, Streisand pointed out that under a 2017 Los Angeles Superior Court ruling, the 17.8% stake in the family trust cannot be sold without the approval of the co-trustees (Jeanie, Janie, and Joey Buss). Furthermore, the trustees are obligated to maintain at least a 15% stake to ensure Jeanie Buss's presidency, and any forced sale would constitute a breach of fiduciary duty, breach of trust, and contempt of court.

　　This internal family storm did not come without warning. Sources indicate that family members were dissatisfied with Walter's previous $10 billion team purchase and the subsequent firing of siblings from Lakers management positions.

　　The trigger for the conflict came recently when Joe McCormack, the Lakers' senior vice president of finance, called an emergency family meeting to propose dissolving the trust and locking up the shares for four years, a move that reportedly startled family members. Therefore, after news broke of Walter's $12.5 billion record sale, the original three-person pro-sale faction quickly gained two more members, resulting in a 5-1 overwhelming vote.

　　The $12.5 billion mega-deal still requires approval from the NBA Board of Governors, with a meeting scheduled for September 15-16. Josh Kushner must also first divest his minority stake in the Miami Heat.

　　Since Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979, the family has led the team to 11 NBA championships and accumulated a league-best 2,289 wins. Now, as the team enters the Luka Dončić era, the off-court equity battle has once again descended into complex legal confrontation, and whether the Buss family's purple-and-gold era can come to an end remains a huge uncertainty.