The biggest lingering question remaining about the Lakers’ sale to Mark Walter is what role Jeanie Buss will play with the team.
Walter purchased the majority stake in the franchise, leaving the Buss family with roughly a 15% ownership stake in the Lakers. However, all of the reporting has been that Buss will remain the governor of the team, effectively calling the shots with Walter’s money.
It’s a situation that has raised some eyebrows as to the viability of it. And the news from the Celtics is the latest reason why many are skeptical as to whether it will last.
On Tuesday, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Wyc Grousbek would not remain governor with the Celtics after their sale.
There is a bit of a difference in this situation and the Lakers situation, though. For one, a party must hold at least 15% stake in the franchise to be a governor of a team. It’s unclear what stake Grousbek would have in the team. Considering that is the number the Buss family landed at, that feels quite deliberate.
Secondly, similar to the Mark Cuban situation in Dallas, this appears to have been little more than a handshake agreement for Grousbeck to remain in charge. The same scenario played out for Cuban with the Mavs after their sale, too.
With Buss, however, it appears that part of the sale agreement included the fact that she would remain the governor for at least five years. Having it in writing compared to a handshake agreement is a big difference.
Still, it’s easy to wonder just how this will work. If it didn’t pan out in either comparable scenario in the NBA in recent years, what’s to make one think it’ll work in Los Angeles?
Overall, it remains a question hanging over this situation and with each situation preceding it playing out in the same way, it only raises the likelihood of this one playing out the same.