Jeanie Buss is best known as the longtime leader of the Los Angeles Lakers, but her story is inseparable from the large family that inherited the franchise after the death of her father, Dr. Jerry Buss.
The Buss siblings grew up around a sports empire that became synonymous with the Lakers’ Showtime era. Today, several members of the family have held important positions within the organization, while others have pursued careers away from basketball.
Their family history has also taken an unexpected turn in 2026, with a major dispute over the future of the Buss family’s Lakers ownership stake placing Jeanie and her siblings on opposite sides.
The Buss Family
Jeanie is one of Jerry Buss’s children from his relationships with JoAnn Mueller and Karen Demel.
Her best-known siblings include Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse Buss. The family later discovered another sibling, Lee Klose, who had been adopted as an infant decades earlier.
Although they share the Buss name and a connection to the Lakers, their professional paths have been very different.
Johnny Buss
Johnny Buss is one of Jerry Buss’s older children and has had a lengthy association with professional sports.
He previously worked within the Lakers organization and served as president of the Los Angeles Sparks, the WNBA franchise. His interests have also extended beyond basketball, including business ventures and motorsports.
Unlike Jeanie, Johnny has not remained at the center of the Lakers’ day-to-day leadership in recent years.
His role became especially relevant again in 2026 because of the family’s dispute over its ownership position in the franchise.
Jim Buss
Jim Buss is perhaps the sibling most closely associated with Jeanie’s rise to power.
For years, Jim worked in the Lakers basketball operation and eventually became vice president of basketball operations. His tenure came under growing scrutiny as the franchise struggled following the end of its championship era.
In 2017, Jeanie removed Jim from his basketball leadership position and replaced general manager Mitch Kupchak. The decision represented one of the most important internal changes in the modern Lakers organization.
The move also demonstrated that Jeanie was prepared to challenge members of her own family when she believed the franchise needed a different direction.
Janie Buss
Janie Buss has maintained a lower public profile than Jeanie and Jim but has remained connected to the Lakers’ community work.
She has been involved with charitable initiatives and programs associated with the organization, helping extend the family’s involvement beyond basketball operations.
Her work represents another side of the Buss legacy, focusing on community engagement rather than the team’s front-office decisions.
Joey Buss
Joey Buss, one of Jerry Buss’s children with Karen Demel, has built his career within the family’s basketball business.
He has been closely associated with the Lakers’ development structure and has served as president and CEO of the South Bay Lakers, the organization’s NBA G League affiliate.
The role gives Joey a direct connection to player development and the next generation of talent.
While Jeanie operates at the ownership level, Joey’s work has focused more heavily on the organization’s developmental pipeline.
Jesse Buss
Jesse Buss has become an influential figure in the Lakers’ basketball operations department.
He has worked as an assistant general manager and in scouting, earning a reputation for his involvement in evaluating young talent.
His responsibilities have included helping the franchise assess prospects and make decisions surrounding the NBA draft.
Jesse’s career illustrates how deeply the Buss family remains embedded in different layers of the Lakers organization, from ownership and governance to scouting and player development.
Lee Klose
The Buss family story became even more remarkable when another sibling entered their lives decades after the others had grown up.
Lee Klose was given up for adoption as an infant in the 1950s by Jerry Buss and JoAnn Mueller. She was raised separately from the other Buss children and spent much of her life in South Carolina.
The family eventually reconnected with Klose as an adult.
Her discovery added an unexpected chapter to the history of one of America’s best-known sports families. Unlike her siblings, however, she has not played a prominent role in Lakers management.
The 2026 Dispute
The Buss family’s relationship with the Lakers has entered particularly turbulent territory in August 2026.
Jeanie has become embroiled in a legal dispute with her five core siblings over a proposed transaction involving the Buss Family Trust’s remaining Lakers stake.
According to reports, Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse supported a deal involving the sale of a 17.8% interest to outside investors Bob Iger and Josh Kushner.
Jeanie opposed the transaction and sought legal intervention.
Her position centers on the terms of a previous court arrangement and the protections surrounding her role as Lakers governor. The dispute has therefore become more than a disagreement about money; it raises questions about who ultimately controls the family’s influence over the franchise.
Jeanie’s Position
Jeanie’s relationship with her siblings has changed considerably over the years.
She successfully established herself as the family’s principal Lakers decision-maker after Jerry Buss died in 2013. Her leadership produced a major championship milestone when the Lakers won the 2020 NBA title.
That achievement made Jeanie the first woman serving as an NBA controlling owner to oversee a championship-winning team.
Now, however, her authority is being tested by a dispute within the same family that helped preserve the Buss legacy.
The Buss siblings represent different parts of Jerry Buss’s enormous Lakers legacy.
Johnny has explored sports and business, Jim worked in basketball operations, Janie has focused on charitable activities, Joey has worked in the G League, and Jesse has built a reputation in scouting. Lee Klose, meanwhile, represents a remarkable family reunion that happened long after the original Buss children had grown up.
Their paths may be different, but all are connected by the franchise their father transformed into a global sporting institution.
