The Buss family and their ties to the Los Angeles Lakers are about as Hollywood as it gets, not only due to their literal proximity to the glitz and glamor, but also because of the wild nature of their family, which has been adapted multiple times across different shows.
When the now late patriarch of the family, Dr. Jerry Buss, purchased the franchise in 1979, he instantly converted the team into one of the greatest sports organizations in the world.
Since then, his children have gone back and forth, frankly making a mess of everything he created in a Game of Thrones-esque quest for control.
Recently, ESPN published an article detailing the messy history of the Buss family and how this ultimately led to the record-breaking $10 billion sale of the team.
While most of the family drama reported has been discussed ad nauseam in the past, there was a critical portion detailing how Jeanie Buss truly feels about LeBron James, and it could cause ripples in the here and now.
Jeanie Buss' true feelings about LeBron James revealed
When LeBron James joined the Lakers in the summer of 2018, he was coming to resurrect a bottom-dwelling team that Jeanie Buss had let slip to that point in her time as the team's governor.
He did exactly that by winning a title in just his second season with Los Angeles.
In this article, however, it details Jeanie's distinct opinion not only on James' arrival to the team but also on LeBron himself.
People close to the organization said that, "Jeanie privately grumbled about what she felt was James' outsized egoand overt control that he and Klutch Sports exerted over the organization at times."
Buss didn't like that James was considered a savior to the franchise, despite him being exactly that, or that he just chose the team, rather than it being something the Lakers' front office earned purely based on merit.
Team sources, however, revealed that they knew from James' camp that he was joining the team as early as 2017, nearly a year before his free agency.
The post-Jerry Buss era of the Lakers was defined by resentment, dysfunction and conflict — and ended with the loss of the most valuable family-owned franchise in the world.@Baxter on the sibling infighting, attempted coups and deep distrust that drove the $10 billion sale ➡️… pic.twitter.com/hj9NuYpGTJ
— ESPN (@espn) January 21, 2026
This disdain, if you will, only grew through the Russell Westbrook saga.
With many reporting that the move was made to appease James, when it catastrophically failed, Buss was frustrated with James yet again over his perceived lack of accountability for the move.
Following the disastrous trade in 2022, when LeBron was ready to have his contract extended, Buss even considered trading James across town to the Clippers in lieu of giving him an extension.
This brewing frustration from Buss' side even extended into recent memory when the team drafted LeBron's son, Bronny James, in the 2024 draft.
ESPN notes that people close to the team revealed, "Jeanie privately remarked that James should be thankful for such a gesture, but that she felt he wasn't." This is petty behavior from someone who owns an NBA franchise.
These are all massive red flags, not a way to treat your superstar who saved your franchise, and ultimately, a sign that Jeanie Buss no longer being a part of the organization was long overdue.
Even though much of this happened years ago, could these revelations come back to bite the team now?
Thankfully, LeBron James is in the final few years of his NBA career, and the team has been sold from the Buss family to Mark Walter.
Jeanie is still roughly involved in the team, however, so Lakers fans should hope this doesn't open a rift within a team that already seems to be struggling with identity.
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