Lakers restructure front office, remove Joey and Jesse Buss from roles

The Lakers are reshaping their basketball operations department, and that overhaul now includes two members of the Buss family.

Joey Buss and Jesse Buss have been removed from their front office positions, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Joey (pictured above, right) had served as an alternate governor and VP of research and development. Jesse was an assistant general manager and a longtime voice in the team’s scouting room.

Both released a joint statement saying they were “extremely honored” to serve the franchise for the past two decades, adding they “wish things could be different with the way our time ended.”

The move marks another significant shift for a family that has been intertwined with the Lakers for more than 40 years. When Dr. Jerry Buss passed in 2013, his stake in the franchise was divided among his six children, with Jeanie Buss taking over as team governor.

That arrangement brought stability publicly, but behind the scenes, not everyone agreed on the direction of the organization.

Tensions reportedly peaked in 2017 when Jim Buss and Johnny Buss attempted to remove Jeanie from the Lakers’ board of directors. A legal battle followed, ultimately cementing Jeanie as the controlling owner for as long as the Buss family held the franchise.

That era effectively ended earlier this year. The Buss siblings voted — not unanimously — to sell their controlling interest to minority owner Mark Walter at a $10 billion valuation.

The NBA approved the deal last month. The family still owns roughly 15 percent, and Jeanie remains governor for now, but the winds continue to shift.

Joey and Jesse will keep their minority shares, but their time in basketball operations is over.

As Charania noted, the brothers have already launched Buss Sports Capital, signaling a new chapter away from the Lakers front office they helped shape for the past decade.