Byron Scott on Lakers: I don't think Dr. Jerry Buss would be very happy with the state of the Lakers right now

Several Lakers legends weighed in on the stunning ownership upheaval surrounding one of sports’ most recognizable franchises, speaking exclusively with the California Post at the Harold & Carole Pump Foundation’s 26th Anniversary Celebrity Dinner on Thursday night at the Beverly Hilton. “I don’t think he [Dr. Jerry Buss] would be very happy with the state of the Lakers right now,” three-time Lakers champion Byron Scott said when asked about the family dispute.

New York Post

Several Lakers legends weighed in on the stunning ownership upheaval surrounding one of sports’ most recognizable franchises, speaking exclusively with the California Post at the Harold & Carole Pump Foundation’s 26th Anniversary Celebrity Dinner on Thursday night at the Beverly Hilton. “I don’t think he [Dr. Jerry Buss] would be very happy with the state of the Lakers right now,” three-time Lakers champion Byron Scott said when asked about the family dispute. — 8/21/2026 New York Post

“That would be sad,” Horry told the California Post. “It would be strange and very, very sad.” Horry pointed beyond championships and banners to Jerry Buss’ lasting fingerprints on the NBA — the marriage of basketball and Hollywood, the Showtime Era, the Laker Girls and the Forum Club. “There are so many things like that that he brought to basketball that all these other organizations kind of piggybacked off of,” Horry said. “So for the Buss family not to be involved in some way would be such a sad thing.” — 8/21/2026 New York Post

In 1979, Jerry Buss bought the Lakers, the Forum and the Los Angeles Kings for $67.5 million. Now the Lakers alone are worth $12.5 billion. “It used to be, ‘Hey, I’m in this for the love of the game,’” said Ross Williams, a private-equity attorney and partner at law firm Reed Smith. “Like I measure the success of my investment based on whether we win championships. … And now it’s becoming apparent that these are really, really good financial investments.” — 8/21/2026 Los Angeles Times

For private equity — in which investors buy into companies that aren’t available on the public market — sports offers safe harbor. Media deals provide predictable revenue over several years. The NBA’s current deal that stretches to the 2035-36 season is worth $6.9 billion per year. Additional revenue streams with merchandise, sponsorships and ticket sales pile on. Owning an arena, which the Lakers do not, opens the floodgates for concerts and events that add to the revenue. “Sports is one of those rare instances where you can invest in something cool that also makes money,” Williams said. — 8/21/2026 Los Angeles Times

But what makes the Buss trust unusual, according to trust and estate experts, is a so-called “last-person-standing” provision that redistributes the shares to the living members if someone dies. “Unless a beneficiary sells his or her share while still alive, it passes to the remaining surviving beneficiaries as each passes, until there is only one left who gets it all,” Schneider said. “Supposedly, Jerry Buss did this to ensure that one of his kids would always own the team but it also creates a huge incentive to sell while still alive.” — 8/21/2026 New York Times

That sale still needs to be approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors. If it is, and if Jeanie Buss is able to ensure the Buss family retains at least 15 percent of the Lakers, will the new ownership group would honor Walter’s commitment that Jeanie could retain governorship for the near future? “I would imagine, without knowing for sure, that (the other NBA governors) would probably be  happy to see the majority owners having the requisite control,” said Matt Mitten, a law professor at Marquette University Law School. “They’re the ones that are basically going to be that voice and vote when they have the league meetings. That’s an important thing to have that vote. It seems to me that if there’s someone, a group with a minority interest that’s holding that – and it’s a small minority interest (17.8) — that just seems to me like, at some point, there’s going to be a conflict between majority ownership and the Buss family ownership.” — 8/21/2026 New York Times

As the fight over what will happen to the Buss family's stake in the Los Angeles Lakers begins in the wake of Mark Walter's shocking sale of his majority ownership of the franchise to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, one of the team's minority owners, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, has no plans to sell his part of the team. "Dr. Patrick is absolutely not selling his minority share of the Lakers," Chuck "Tiger" Kenworthy, the Soon-Shiong family attorney, told ESPN on Thursday. "Bob Iger and Josh Kushner are good friends, and we will be joining them as supportive, active and engaged partners once they close the transaction with Mr. Walter. We are extremely excited about the Lakers' future and look forward to many more championship years." — 8/20/2026 ESPN

Dr. Soon-Shiong, 74, bought into the team in 2010, purchasing a 4% stake from iconic Lakers star Magic Johnson. Known for his innovative cancer research and treatment, Dr. Soon-Shiong is also a successful businessman and surgeon, with a net worth north of $15 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. — 8/20/2026 ESPN

Oh No He Didn't: Shaquille O'Neal on the Buss siblings reportedly selling their share of the Lakers: "I have great admiration for the Buss family. Learned a lot of business acumen from watching them. And I can remember how much Mr. Buss paid for the team. So if the rumors are true on how much they sold it for I think it was a monumental business move. It will be different not knowing that the Buss family is there with the Lakers, but I want to wish them well, want to congratulate them. Thank you for the great memories that they gave me. But from a business standpoint, for what they purchased it for to what they're selling it for... you get the golf clap" — 8/20/2026 x.com

If the Buss siblings do sell their part of the team, leaving Jeanie with just under 3% ownership, she would need to acquire an additional 12% of the team in order to hold the requisite 15% to serve as acting governor under the NBA guidelines. Buss would be interested in doing so, The Athletic reported Wednesday, however that number could be difficult to reach without Iger and Kushner -- or some of her siblings -- selling her back a part of the team. With Dr. Soon-Shiong's 4% off the market, the only other minority owner Buss could target in that scenario would be Ed Roski Jr., who owns approximately 3% of the Lakers. — 8/20/2026 ESPN

On his "Byron Scott's Fast Break" podcast, the Los Angeles Lakers legend claimed that while the 76ers look good on paper with James' addition, expectations must be tempered about Philly easily winning it all. Using the ill-fated 2003-04 Lakers as an example, Scott said the new-look 76ers with James are still not assured of claiming an NBA title. ‘I mean we can go all the way back to the early parts in the 2000s. You got Karl Malone, Gary Payton, Kobe Bryant, Shaq [O'Neal], and you still got [Derek Fisher], you know, you still got an unbelievable starting lineup. And on paper, everybody said, 'Oh, they going to win a championship.' What happened? They played Detroit Pistons, who was a team, much better team, a much better cohesive group of guys who wanted nothing more than to win. And you had friction on that Laker team with Gary Payton and some of the other guys. And then you had the Peacemaker Karl Malone. And then Karl got hurt which really killed their chances of winning the championship and Detroit went through them four games to one. Right? So talent on paper don’t mean a whole lot.’ — 8/4/2026 BasketNews

Byron Scott: "If they don't win a championship this year, who they going to blame? LeBron. If they win a championship, who they going to say? Well, we supposed to, right? So he has to me, it's not that he doesn't have a choice, but being that he's been in this league this long, he's accomplished every f*cking thing that you can accomplish. So why not just say, look, you guys, it's your team." — 8/3/2026 YouTube

Byron Scott on LeBron James: "If they didn't have James Harden, I think he would have did it a third time. But then again, we also heard reports that Donovan Mitchell wasn't a good fit with LeBron." — 8/3/2026 YouTube

Byron Scott says LeBron James is not a top 5 All-Time Lakers player, he might be top 10: “I’m going by if you put that purple and gold there’s a different standard. So, I’m going to elaborate on a little bit. There’s a different standard and you look at the top guys, the Kareem, the Magic’s, the Kobe’s, the Shaq’s, you know, guys like that. Those guys got multiple championships with this organization.” — 6/29/2026 x.com

NBA Courtside: Byron Scott says everybody thinks it’s LeBron James decision to stay at the Lakers, but the organization should say we’re moving on: “We’re gonna start looking at other options to bring in to make us a better organization.” (Via Byron Scott’s Fast Break) — 6/29/2026 x.com

This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: Byron Scott on Lakers: I don't think Dr. Jerry Buss would be very happy with the state of the Lakers right now

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