Jeanie Buss moved to trade for Luke Doncic, then decided to sell the Los Angeles Lakers a few months later
On Wednesday, the Buss family entered an agreement to sell the majority ownership of the Lakers to Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of TWG Global. Walter—who is also the primary owner and chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers—has agreed to purchase the majority stake in the Lakers at a valuation of approximately $10 billion.
Buss has been the team’s governor — and face of Lakers ownership as they make trades and signings — ever since her legendary father, Dr. Jerry Buss, passed away in 2013. After Doncic’s stunning trade, Buss claimed she pulled the trigger on the move because her father would have done the same
Jerry first purchased the Lakers for $67.5 million in 1979, and his family has overseen 11 championships since. He made key moves along the way, like signing Shaquille O’Neal in free agency and trading for Pau Gasol.
Buss decided to live up to her father’s legacy by sending Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Doncic. The trade stunned the NBA community, and Buss was one of the only members of the Lakers organization who knew about the trade discussions.
She was taught to keep her cards close to her chest. Buss learned the tricks of the trade from her legendary father
My dad was a really great poker player, and he used to try to teach me poker, take me to the tables,” Buss told TIME Magazine. “I finally said, ‘Dad, why are you making me do this? I don’t like it, I don’t want to play poker.’
“And he goes, ‘I’m just trying to teach you that poker is a game of patience. It might take a long time, but once you get the cards, you have to be able to go from zero to 100 at the drop of a hat.’”
The Lakers began negotiations over a Doncic deal when Mavs general manager and president of basketball operations Nico Harrison approached Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka. The Lakers were in Dallas to face the Mavericks, which got the ball rolling.
Three weeks later, the trade was completed—and only Harrison, Pelinka, Buss, and the Mavs owners were in the loop. Buss knew how important it was for talks to remain private to complete the blockbuster deal.
It was really important to me that we didn’t blow up the team,” Buss added. “If it had leaked out and the trade hadn’t happened, that would be really unfair to the progress that the coaching staff had made with the team. Because it’s a huge distraction.
“The trade deadline is part of the business. It increases the level of stress for everybody. And I’m really proud that it didn’t leak out and that we were able to execute the trade in a way that still was surprising to all the parties involved. But that goes with this business.”
Buss didn’t want to lose Davis or young prospect Max Christie, but adding Doncic was too exciting an opportunity to turn down. She told FOX Sports: “It was difficult because we weren’t looking to trade Anthony Davis or Max Christie.
But it was a deal that he would’ve made. And we had to go for it. I thought my dad would have been very proud of me [for the trade], because I pushed the chips onto the table.
