El Segundo, CA - June 06: Siblings Joey and Jesse Buss (in black hat), from left, sitting in the front row during a press conferrence announcing new Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, at the UCLA Health Training Center, in El Segundo, CA, Monday, June 6, 2022. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Joey & Jesse Buss Terminated From Lakers Front Office Roles

Originally posted on Lakers Nation | By Daniel Starkand | Last updated Nov 20, 2025 2:47 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers is currently undergoing significant changes with Jeanie Buss and her family selling their majority ownership stake to Mark Walter.

With the sale, Walter is expected to keep Jeanie on as governor for at least the next five years while he takes his time to evaluate the franchise.

It appears there are some more imminent changes happening, however, as according to Shams Charania of ESPN, Jeanie’s younger brothers Joey and Jesse Buss have been terminated from their front office roles:

The Los Angeles Lakers are reorganizing their basketball operations department and terminating executives Joey and Jesse Buss from their respective front office positions, effective immediately, the brothers told ESPN.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 20, 2025

Statement from Joey and Jesse Buss: “We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons. Thank you to Laker Nation for embracing our family every step of the way. We wish things could be different with the way our time ended with the team. At… https://t.co/2w3vjXWZ98

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 20, 2025

While they will no longer be working in the front office, Joey and Jesse will keep their minority ownership shares with the team:

Joey and Jesse Buss have had key Lakers scouting roles for the last decade, helping find players such as Austin Reaves, Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and Max Christie. The brothers will maintain their minority ownership shares within the Lakers.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 20, 2025

This comes as a surprise as it was previously reported that Joey and Jesse would be keeping their roles in the organization. They have done an exceptional job evaluating and scouting talent over the years, so this is a significant loss for the Lakers.

Both brothers held a variety of roles, but most recently Joey was the Lakers’ alternate governor and vice president of research and development and Jesse was the team’s assistant general manager. It remains to be seen who will be replacing them in those roles moving forward.

Joey and Jesse Buss launch sports acquisition business

It was recently announced that Joey and Jesse Buss were launching their own sports acquisition business, so now that they are no longer involved in the Lakers’ front office they will likely shift their focus to doing that on a full-time basis.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Lakers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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