Buss brothers agree to new board of directors…
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Buss brothers agree to new board of directors for Lakers, with Jeanie Buss on it
Lakers president Jeanie Buss cheers during last weekend's game between the Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers at Staples Center. She appears to have won the battle with two of her brothers to remain in control of the team – at least for now. (AP Photo/Danny Moloshok)
By Larry Altman | laltman32@gmail.com | Contributing Writer
Lakers president Jeanie Buss appears to have won the battle with two of her brothers to remain in control of the team – at least for now.
According to court documents filed Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Jim and Johnny Buss signed a consent agreement on Monday that waives the team's annual shareholders meeting and elects Jeanie Buss to the Lakers board of directors. That means she can keep her job running the Lakers.
"Jeanie Buss is hereby elected as the National Basketball Association Governor/Controlling Owner of the Corporation," the Consent of Shareholders of The Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. document says.
In addition to Jeanie Buss, the consent agreement elects brothers Johnny Buss and Joey Buss – president of the D-Fenders development league team – to the board, along with Lakers CEO Francis Mariani and AEG President Dan Beckerman.
The action comes two weeks after Jeanie Buss thwarted a coup attempt by Jim and Johnny Buss to oust her from her job as the team's governor. Jeanie Buss filed for a temporary restraining order to prevent the brothers from scheduling a board meeting that did not include her on the ballot for directors. If she was not elected, she would not be able to serve as the team's president. In his will, late Lakers owner Jerry Buss placed Jeanie Buss in the top position on the club, and her brother Jim as vice president of basketball operations.
In her filing, Jeanie Buss called her brother unfit to run the Lakers.
Jeanie Buss withdrew her request when the brothers backed off and canceled the meeting.
That coup attempt came just days after Jeanie Buss fired her brother, Jim Buss, and installed Lakers legend Magic Johnson as president of basketball operations. She also fired long-time general manager Mitch Kupchak and replaced him with Kobe Bryant's former agent, Rob Pelinka.
Friday's consent agreement filing doesn't mean the Lakers are securely in Jeanie's hands.
In the court affidavit, Jeanie's attorneys said the agreement lasts for a year, requiring her to "file yet another series of petitions to prevent Jim and Johnny from breaching their fiduciary duties." The document asks a judge to mandate that her brothers elect her to the board every year for the rest of her life.
"Such relief is necessary and proper to ensure that Johnny and Jim continue to comply with the express mandate of the Trust on an ongoing basis without future court intervention," the document said.
A probate hearing is set for May 15.
More to come on this story.
Larry Altman | Contributing Writer
Larry Altman has covered crime and court proceedings in Southern California since 1987. A graduate of Cal State Northridge, where he served as editor of the college newspaper, Altman has worked for the Daily Breeze since 1990. The Society of Professional Journalists named him a "Distinguished Journalist" in Los Angeles in 2006. Altman's work was featured twice on CBS' "48 Hours" and he appeared eight times with "Nancy Grace," who called him "dear." He has covered hundreds of homicides and many trials. Altman has crawled through a mausoleum to open a coffin, confronted husbands who killed their wives, wives who killed their husbands, and his coverage helped put a child molester and a murderer in prison. In his spare time, Altman is an avid Los Angeles Lakers and Dodgers fan, is the commissioner of a Fantasy Baseball league with several other current and former newspapermen, runs a real estate empire and likes to watch old movies on TCM.
laltman32@gmail.com
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