Category: Basketball

Count Joe Tsai among the few in New York City who are less than thrilled by the Knicks ending their 53-year NBA championship drought.

That’s because the city’s most beloved basketball franchise hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy before the Nets owner and his team could get their hands on it for the first time — despite the franchise’s best efforts. 

Tsai, who has fully owned the Nets since 2019, was asked about the Knicks winning it all by Nets Daily and if it would change his approach to jump-starting the Nets.

“Every year, some team is going to win a championship,” Tsai said. “So it happens that this year that team is in the same city. It doesn’t make us feel very good. It irates our fanbase, and it is embarrassing, but in business or in competition, in sports, or in anything, you shouldn’t let the embarrassment factor affect how you perform. [We] had a plan and we’re rebuilding, and I think right now we are on a positive trajectory. So it doesn’t change my thinking at all.” 

Tsai took a big swing at bringing a championship to Brooklyn by signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency in the summer of 2019 and trading for James Harden in January 2021 to form their version of the Big 3. 

Injuries kept the trio from consistently playing together, and the closest the group ever came to a championship was a heartbreaking Eastern Conference semifinals loss to the Bucks in 2021.

Two straight first-round exits followed, and the franchise has found itself between rebuilding and tanking since the 2023-24 season, winning just 46 games combined the past two campaigns while stockpiling talented young players in the draft. 

While the Nets were tanking, the Knicks became one of the NBA’s most consistent winners behind captain Jalen Brunson, culminating in a historic playoff run that ended with a defeat of the Spurs in five games in the NBA Finals. 

The Nets, however, appear to be finally turning the corner and prioritizing winning under head coach Jordi Fernández after signing ex-Knick Julius Randle in free agency to pair with Michael Porter Jr. as leaders of a young core that includes first-round picks Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Dëmin.

General manager Sean Marks said after the draft that the Nets control their own path and it’s going to be “really exciting to see what they look like” moving forward. Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment’s chief financial officer Peter Stern told Nets Daily that the franchise was “happy for the Knicks” and that “more people loving basketball” because of the run could activate many dormant fans for the NBA. 

Monday afternoon played out like a real-life episode of the television show “Succession,” a satirical drama about a family fighting for control over a national media conglomerate.

At the eye of the storm? 

The Buss family. And the Los Angeles Lakers. 

Five days after Mark Walter agreed to sell the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner for $12.5 billion, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Monday morning that the Buss family has decided to sell its 17.8% ownership stake in the franchise. 

It was the end of an era. 

It meant Jeanie Buss would no longer be the Lakers’ governor since NBA guidelines require governors to own at least 15% of a franchise. It meant the Buss’s 47-year tenure with the franchise had come to an end. 

This was monumental.  

Two-time Laker champion Mychal Thompson told The California Post that it was “a sad day for us Laker faithful.” Laker great Magic Johnson took to X to write a lengthy post about what the Buss family meant to him. 

But Thompson’s words quickly morphed in meaning. And Johnson deleted his post. 

Their eulogies were interrupted. 

Why, you may ask?

The drama began to unspool like yarn. The jaw-dropping in-fighting that has hung over the Buss family like a dark cloud since Jerry Buss died in 2013 raged into yet another war. 

Jeanie Buss did not vote to sell the team — and she’s contesting her five siblings’ votes, arguing that they can’t legally execute a sale without her approval.   

In a letter obtained by The California Post, Jeanie Buss’s lawyer, Adam Streisand, called this a “years-long pattern whereby Joey and Jesse Buss leak false, defamatory and pernicious ‘information’ to Mr. Charania for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Dr. Buss’s chosen successor, Jeanie Buss, carried out her father’s wishes.”

Streisand went on to call the Buss siblings’ vote “void,” claiming that the Buss family’s 17.8% ownership interest can’t be sold without approval of the current co-trustees: Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss. 

He added that there’s a 2017 court order requiring the family to maintain at least 15% ownership in the Lakers so Jeanie Buss can remain governor.

“Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court,” Streisand wrote.

Things just got tricky. Again. 

This is far from the first time that Jerry Buss’s children have had an acrimonious battle over the team.

The CliffsNotes: In 2017, Jeanie Buss fired Jim Buss as vice president of basketball operations. Then Jim and Johnny Buss unsuccessfully tried to remove her as controlling owner. In November, Joey and Jesse Buss were fired from their front office roles following the sale to Walter. 

So, once again it’s Jeanie Buss versus her siblings. Once again, the Lakers are steeped in drama.

Not only have there been two ownership changes in the last 14 months, but now things just got even more complicated.  

There was something comforting about Jeanie Buss overseeing the transition to Iger and Kushner. There was a sense of continuity amid all of the wild change. The face of the organization was still going to be around even though the team had been tossed around like a hot potato. 

After Walter bought the Lakers for $10 billion in October 2025, he and Jeanie Buss had a deal that she would remain governor for at least another five years. When Iger took over, he told The California Post that he had every intention of honoring that arrangement. 

Now everything is up to lawyers.  

It’s hard not to imagine what Jerry Buss would think of all of this. Not only did the team that he turned into one of the greatest franchises in sports get sold twice, but his children are now engaged in WWIII. 

After Jerry Buss bought the Lakers from Jack Kent Cooke in May 1979, he helped lead them to 10 NBA championships before dying of kidney failure. Since Jeanie took over, the Lakers won their 11th title under the Buss family reign in 2020, making her the first female controlling owner to win an NBA championship. 

It’s a beautiful story of family success. Of father and daughter greatness. Of a family-owned business rising to the top amid NBA teams owned by cold corporations. 

Or is it?

This family tale has the makings of a juicy TV show that could dominate airwaves. 

It’s filled with backstabbing, undercutting and juicy details. 

In a city dominated by Hollywood, the Lakers are overshadowing any drama that could be manufactured. 

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Raptors fans and fans across the country.

This week’s survey asks Toronto Raptors fans to identify which player must soar to new heights to best take advantage of Kawhi Leonard’s presence.

Leonard, who turned 35 in June, opens a meaningful (but small) championship window in Toronto for the next few seasons. Considering his injury history, it’s reasonable to assume that window might be even smaller than most fans think.

While other moves could still be made this off-season or during this year’s trade deadline, the current roster looks mostly set ahead of the season-opener on Oct. 21 against the Chicago Bulls.

When Leonard last wore a Raptors jersey, he was surrounded by what most analysts now safely conclude as elite depth. Leonard may not have the same level of a supporting cast entering the 2026-27 season, but there are legitimate secondary weapons on the roster. This year’s team basically took a strong Cleveland Cavaliers squad to the brink in a seven-game series.

But which of these players must elevate their game the most to bring the Raptors to the next level?

Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys:

Cast your vote, tell us in the comments, and we’ll be back soon with more Reacts.

When ESPN reported that the NBA didn’t find legitimate evidence proving Steve Ballmer, Los Angeles Clippers owner, committed salary circumvention on Monday, it sent the basketball world reeling.

But when the NBA responded with its own announcement, claiming there were “significant inaccuracies” in the report, it confused an already disoriented audience.

Later in the day, reporter Baxter Holmes said on the show NBA on ESPN: “It doesn’t really add any clarity as to when there could be a resolution for this trade.”

Based on our latest poll, Raptors fans remain equally perplexed – and tired – with everything related to the NBA’s investigation of Kawhi Leonard.

With the start of pre-season beginning on Oct. 3, Raptors fans can continue to voice their expertise, knowledge, and concern about the upcoming year on FanDuel.

Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is contesting her family's plans to sell sell its remaining shares in the NBA team to new majority owners Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger.

In a letter obtained by USA TODAY Sports and first reported by CNBC, Buss' attorney Adam F. Streisand refuted an earlier report from ESPN that all six siblings – Jim, Johnny, Janie, Jeanie, Joey and Jesse – had voted to sell their 17.8% ownership stake and that Jeanie was effectively out as team governor. He asserted that any such vote "would be and is void ab initio," or completely null and void from the moment it was made.

Streisand maintained that Jeanie Buss remains the controlling owner of the Buss family's stakes, citing a 2017 court order – also obtained by USA TODAY Sports – that established the co-trustees of the JAB Trust must "take all actions reasonably available to them" to ensure Jeanie Buss is elected controlling owner every year for the remainer of her lifetime. Selling their shares below the required 15% for Jeanie Buss to serve as the face of ownership would, Streisand says in the letter, violate the order.

LAKERS: Buss family intends to sell remaining stake despite Jeanie Buss' opposition

"The Order remains in full force and effect," the letter reads. "There has never been a modification of the Trust. No effort has ever been made to justify to the Court that there are circumstances for modifying the Trust, and there are no circumstances that could be proven to justify any modification.

"... On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the Controlling Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed “vote” to sell the 17.8% stake."

The news of the Buss siblings' intention to sell comes just five days after Kusher and Iger agreed to purchase the Lakers from majority owner Mark Walter for a record $12.5 billion. That also came less than a calendar year after Walter bought the team for $10 billion, putting an end to the Buss' 47 years of majority ownership. If the tag-along sale from the family were to go through, Kusher and Iger would assume an estimated 83% total stake.

Contributing: Lorenzo Reyes

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jeanie Buss contesting her family's plan to sell its Lakers stakes

Jeanie Buss is not going quietly into that good night.

While Shams Charania of ESPN reported on Monday that the Buss family would be selling its remaining 17.8% stake in the Lakers, it doesn’t appear that was a unanimous decision.

Alex Sherman of CNBC obtained a letter sent to the law firms of the Buss siblings not named Jeanie indicating she considers the sale “void.” Here is a snippet of what Adam Streisand, Jeanie’s lawyer, says in the letter.

“No sale of the JAB Trust’s 17.8% ownership interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. can be effectuated without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss. Pursuant to the JAB Trust and the attached Court Order, the co-trustees are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain Controlling Owner,” Streisand says in the letter.

“Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court,” he says.

Sam Amick of The Athletic also received a letter from Streisand with the same argument made.

In a letter obtained by @TheAthletic, the attorney for Lakers governor Jeanie Buss says the trust vote to sell is void, arguing legal standing that requires her to be controlling owner on a lifetime basis. Her lawyer is demanding that representatives of the trust make it clear…

— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) August 17, 2026

I won’t pretend to be a lawyer or know the ins and outs of the legalities of this situation. It’s not a surprise Jeanie isn’t going down without a fight, even if it’s also going to make this particularly messy.

Her stance appears to be built around the fact that she’s a co-trustee of the family trust and wants to remain the governor of the franchise. As an outsider looking in, it looks like sour grapes and her fighting to the very end, but, again, we don’t know much as outsiders.

What isn’t up for debate is how apropo this is for Jeanie and the family. For over a decade, the family has been constant drama. This is a fitting way for it all to come to an end…if this is the end.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

Jeanie Buss is opposing the reported sale of her family’s stake in the Lakers to Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner, arguing her siblings can’t legally execute a sale without her approval.

In a letter obtained by the California Post addressed to the lawyers representing her five other siblings in the Buss family trust (Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse) – Jeanie Buss’ lawyer, Adam Streisand, stated Jeanie didn’t agree to sell the team and that any vote of the Buss family selling would be “Void ab initio”.

She also filed paperwork to stop the sale with the Superior Court of Los Angeles Central District.

“No sale of the JAB Trust’s 17.8% ownership interest in the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. can be effectuated without approval by the current co-trustees, i.e., Jeanie, Janie and Joey Buss,” Streisand said in the letter.

“Pursuant to the JAB Trust and the attached Court Order, the co-trustees are bound to vote the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. shares to ensure that the minimum 15% ownership requirement is maintained in order to ensure that Jeanie Buss may remain Controlling Owner. Any attempt by the co-trustees to do otherwise, and any attempt to aid or abet the co-trustees as such, would constitute a breach of trust, breach of fiduciary duty and be in contempt of court.

The letter added: “On behalf of Jeanie Buss, I demand that your clients make clear publicly that Jeanie Buss is the Controlling Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and that your clients shall take no action on this supposed “vote” to sell the 17.8% stake.

Mark Walter, who purchased the majority ownership of the Lakers from the Buss family last year for a valuation of $10 billion (which was a record for the sale of a U.S. sports franchise at the time) last week agreed to sell his stakes in the Lakers to Iger and Kushner at a historic valuation of $12.5 billion.

ESPN first reported Monday that the Buss siblings voted to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% ownership of the Lakers to Iger and Kushner.

The Buss family said said in a statement: “We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction. We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”

The Buss family trust, which includes six of Jerry Buss’ children — Johnny (69), Jim (66), Jeanie (64), Janie (62), Joey (41) and Jesse (37) — needed a majority vote (four out of six) to allow the trustees to sell the family’s shares.

ESPN reported Jeanie didn’t vote to sell the family’s ownership stake in the Lakers, while the other five siblings in the trust did.

Selling the Lakers would result in Jeanie no longer being the team’s Governor, since she would no longer have the qualifying 15% ownership stake in the franchise required told hold that position. She has been team’s Governor since 2013 after Jerry’s death.

When Walter purchased the majority ownership of the Lakers from the Buss family, the league announced that Buss would remain the team’s Governor for a period of at least five years (through 2030).

Iger told the California Post last week he and Kushner intended to honor the agreement made between Walter and Buss. 

But on Monday, Jeanie’s attorney sent a letter to lawyers for the other siblings demanding that they retract the announcement of the proposed sale, insisting that rules of the family trust and a 2017 court ruling make clear that she will remain a controlling owner of the team for life.

The letter also called the announcement of a planned sale of the family’s stake in the Lakers, “just the latest instance of a years-long pattern whereby Joey and Jesse Buss leak false, defamatory and pernicious `information’…for the malicious purpose of doing harm to the Los Angeles Lakers so long as Dr. [Jerry] Buss’ chosen successor, Jeanie Buss, carries out her father’s wishes.”

Kushner and Iger are purchasing about 65% of the Lakers in their deal with Walter. The Buss family’s share of the Lakers would give Kushner and Iger about 83% of the franchise.

That sale needs to be approved by the NBA Board of Governors, which is scheduled to meet Sept. 15-16 in New York.

Kushner also must sell his minority ownership stake in the Heat before he can officially become the Lakers’ co-majority owner.

Mark Walter’s legacy with the Los Angeles Lakers was short-lived, but was quietly a roller coaster of a ride.

Details continue to emerge about his roughly yearlong tenure at the helm of the franchise, a period filled with behind-the-scenes upheaval that contributed to a“weird vibe” throughout last season, as one source described it in a new report by The Athletic.

Walter purchased the Lakers for $10 billion in June 2025, and was officially welcomed in as the team’s owner on October, 30, 2025.

Less than a week ago, Walter sold his stake in the Lakers to former Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger and businessman Josh Kushner at a $12.5 billion valuation.

Walter’s brief Lakers ownership began with expectations of him elevating the franchise into one of the NBA’s finest, as he did for the Los Angeles Dodgers after he purchased them in 2012.

Instead, his legacy with the team was focused on him changing the way the team operated behind the scenes.

According to The Athletic, the organization had multiple rounds of layoffs last season while there was a significant increase in season ticket prices — some by more than 40 percent.

The price hikes reportedly was due in part to the influx of new courtside seating at Crypto.com Arena.

Lakers basketball executives reportedly were frustrated last season after the team made the abrupt decision to relocate its G League team from El Segundo to the Coachella Valley as they believed they were being “distanced from their developmental players and coaches.”

Just a month before Walter sold the team, the Lakers organization had another major shift as LeBron James announced his departure after eight seasons, and would later sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.

On Monday, the Lakers organization had one last seismic change: The Buss family, which spent most of the past 47 years as the majority owners of the team, sold the remainder of their shares to Iger and Kushner, and Jeanie Buss will no longer serve as the team’s governor.

The Buss family is selling its remaining ownership shares in the Los Angeles Lakers to new majority co-owners Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, who have an agreement with Mark Walter to buy the franchise for a historic valuation of $12.5 billion.

When Walter purchased the majority ownership of the Lakers from the Buss family last year at a valuation of $10 billion, the league announced that Buss would remain the team’s Governor for a period of at least five years.

Iger told the California Post last week he and Kushner intended to honor the agreement made between Walter and Buss. 

The Buss family trust, which includes six of Jerry Buss’ children — Jeanie (64), Johnny (69), Jim (66), Janie (62), Joey (41) and Jesse (37) — needed a majority vote (four out of six) to allow the trustees to sell their shares.

Now, the trustees will execute the sale.

ESPN reported Jeanie didn’t vote to sell the family’s ownership stake in the Lakers, while the other five siblings in the trust did.

So, what does the Buss family’s decision mean for Jeanie?

Once the sale is official, she will no longer be able to be the Lakers Governor. She’s been the franchise’s Governor after her father died in February 2013.

The NBA requires that all Governors have an ownership stake of at least 15% of the franchise to be in the role.

The Buss family’s remaining shares in the Lakers was close to 18% of the franchise.

An NBA franchise’s Governor is the official representative and voting member on the league’s Board of Governors.

“We have enormous respect and appreciation for Jeanie, her father and what they’ve contributed to this franchise,” Iger told The Post. “And we have every intention to honor the agreement that was made between Mark and Jeanie. If things change, they’ll change, but we’re going into this with enormous respect and appreciation for who she is and what she represents in the organization.”

Looks like things changed.

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Uh, oh. Here we go again, perhaps.

Sunday afternoon, we covered a report that former Cleveland Browns DE Za’Darius Smith was expected to rejoin the team after a visit to Berea. Smith seemed a bit confused by that report, as he commented on social media that he had another workout lined up with another team before deleting that comment.

DE Jared Verse talked on Monday about the potential addition of Smith and getting to pick the veteran’s brain.

Previously, the Browns brought in another former defensive end, Jadeveon Clowney, and seemed interested in signing him before the former first overall pick returned to the Houston Texans instead.

Could things be repeating themselves, this time with a bit of Kevin Stefanski revenge added to it?

Potential twist: Veteran pass rusher Za’Darius Smith, who has been expected to sign with the #Browns, worked out for the #Falcons.

Atlanta has lost both James Pearce Jr. (8-game suspension) and Jalon Walker (torn ACL). Smith played for Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland. pic.twitter.com/bhO6q47MXr

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) August 17, 2026

Stefanski was fired in Cleveland following the 2025 season and quickly hired as the Atlanta Falcons head coach during the cycle that brought Todd Monken in to coach the Browns. According to Mary Kay Cabot, who had the initial report that Smith would sign back in Ohio, the team thought they had a deal done:

Za'Darius Smith, who was expected to sign with the #Browns, tried out for the #Falcons and his former Cleveland coach Kevin Stefanski today: —> https://t.co/cwdPCUp8pP

— Mary Kay Cabot (@MaryKayCabot) August 17, 2026

As noted, Smith could help fill a big need for the Falcons and rejoin Stefanski instead of rejoining Cleveland, where he played for Stefanski for almost two years before being traded.

In his 11 years in the NFL, Smith compiled 343 tackles, 176 QB hits, 87 tackles for loss, and 70.5 sacks.

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Do you want Smith to return to the Browns? Would his joining Stefanski instead of Cleveland bother you even more than Clowney choosing the Texans?

It turns out burning bridges with all of your siblings might come back to haunt you.

On Monday, the Buss Family Trust agreed to sell its remaining nearly 18% of the Lakers to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner, a surprising final twist in the family’s ownership of the team. Whatever Hollywood-esque storyline you can come up with about how this played out probably won’t live up to the finale that played out.

According to reporting from Dave McMenamin of ESPN, an emergency meeting of the siblings was called last week where Jeanie tried one last power play.

The meeting was held Tuesday. During the meeting, there was no mention of a pending sale between Mark Walter and Bob Iger/Josh Kushner, sources told ESPN. The next day, Walter’s agreement to sell the team was reported by ESPN’s @ramonashelburnehttps://t.co/xuJJD7HPSs

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) August 17, 2026

While this could be connecting dots that aren’t there, the four-year timeframe would align with Jeanie’s agreement with Mark Walter to remain governor for at least five years. The initial word from Bob Iger was that the new owners intended to honor that agreement.

However, Jeanie’s fraught history with her siblings came back to bite her as there was a reason for the emergency meeting. As it turns out, the family executed the tag-along clause, which allows minority owners to join the sale if a majority owner sells.

The other Buss siblings took the chance to cash in on the sale and, in the process, oust Jeanie as governor.

Follow-up reporting: The tag-along clause was executed after the other five siblings sent Jeanie signatures stating that they wanted the family to sell its shares, according to a source. https://t.co/OD06hOjVah

— Yaron Weitzman (@YaronWeitzman) August 17, 2026

Also: Am told by multiple sources that Lakers governor Jeanie Buss did not vote to sell. The other five siblings did. https://t.co/RpxWef5l6U

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) August 17, 2026

What an incredible bit of drama. I’d say to bring back “Winning Time” so that we could eventually see this play out on screen, but this feels like something straight out of “Succession” anyway.

Truly, it couldn’t be scripted any better.

Jeanie thought she had the final say by siding with Mark Walter on the sale, securing her spot as team governor and firing the last members of her family from the team over the last year. As it turns out, the dominoes had already started falling, as Walter had his own issues with the federal government that may have prompted the sale, leading us to this point.

Imagine the siblings’ realization when it dawned on them that they could not only pocket another couple hundred million dollars but also force Jeanie out in the process.

It’s a show that’d win all the awards in Hollywood.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

For many fans in Philadelphia (maybe all of them), I’m not sure the 2026-27 Sixers will feel like a real team until we see them play a game. Adding Jaylen Brown and none other than LeBron James in one offseason was a truly breathtaking turn of events for this team, and it’s not too long now until we see the Sixers take to the court.

The team has now revealed their preseason schedule, starting at home on Oct. 5 against the Knicks.

counting down the days. ⏳@Toyotapic.twitter.com/JtxSn67Wum

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) August 17, 2026

A rematch, albeit a preseason one, against the Knicks seems like a fitting way for the Sixers to return following their second-round defeat against New York. From there, a matchup against the Nets is the least interesting game of the bunch, closed out by two contests against the Celtics. If we see Brown take to the court for the first time against his old team, that alone is a good enough storyline to make things more intriguing than a normal preseason game.

The main thing to wonder in the meantime ahead of October is how much we see of the team’s new starting five. Will Joel Embiid play at all, or just take some extra rest? Similarly, does LeBron play or save his Sixers debut for the regular season? Even if we don’t see much of them, there are obviously still other storylines to look forward to, like Brown’s likely debut, or a first look at V.J. Edgecombe as he enters his sophomore season with a full summer of work under his belt.

If the big stars do take to the court, it’s unlikely to be for long. No matter how brief their time together is in preseason, though, it’s still extra reps to start gelling as a group. The absurd talent and potential of this new team still feels surreal, but it will understandably take time for them to maximize how to play off one another, get used to how they’ll share usage, orchestrate new actions, and how Nick Nurse optimizes stagger patterns of his stars.

Now we only have about six weeks to wait until it all gradually starts coming together. And if you want to start looking ahead at the games that will really matter, you can check out our initial look at the Sixers’ full regular season schedule.

What a time we live in where this is the Sixers team we have to look forward to watching.

The end of an era.

The Buss Family Trust is selling its 17.8% stake of the Lakers, according to media reports Monday, giving its final shares of the team to new majority owners Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger, who bought the controlling ownership stake from Mark Walter last week for a record valuation of $12.5 billion. The sale ends a 47-year reign for the Buss family, which turned the Lakers into one of the most recognizable teams in the world.

“We have decided as a family to sell the remaining Buss Family Trust shares to the Bob Iger group as part of the ongoing transaction,” the Buss family said in a statement to ESPN, which first reported the news. “We love the Lakers, Laker fans and will continue to support Los Angeles; but it is time to use this opportunity to move on and exit gracefully while we still can.”

Read more:What's at stake for Dodgers' owner Mark Walter as authorities probe his businesses

The transactions still need to be approved by the NBA board of governors. Jeanie Buss, who remained the Lakers governor even after Walter’s purchase of the team was approved last October, would no longer be eligible to serve on the board, which requires minority owners to have at least a 15% stake.

The Buss family has owned the team since 1979, when Jerry Buss bought the franchise for $67.5 million. The family patriarch leveraged Hollywood glamour with entertainment spectacle to elevate the team into an internationally recognized brand. When Buss died in 2013, the team was passed to a trust for his six children: Jeanie, Jim, Johnny, Janie, Joey and Jesse.

Despite being one of the most recognizable franchises in the world, the Lakers remained a family-run business. Soon, the booming sports business caught up. The team started falling behind in resources and revenue compared to other organizations that controlled their own arenas and media deals. The Buss family voted to relinquish a majority ownership of the team in 2025, bringing in Walter, who also owns the Dodgers.

Jeanie was to remain the governor of the team for five years under Walter, but the investment mogul who is under federal investigation for unpaid loans shockingly sold his stake in the Lakers last week to Kushner and Iger. Kushner, a co-founder of a venture capital firm Thrive Capital and the permanent holdings company Thrive Eternal, will have to divest a minority stake in the Miami Heat before the Lakers purchase can be approved. Iger is the longtime Disney chief executive who already owns Angel City FC and previously flirted with NFL ownership by trying to build an NFL stadium in Carson before the project ultimately went to Stan Kroenke-led SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

When the duo agreed to buy Walter’s share last week, Kushner and Iger released a statement that in part praised the Buss family’s work with the Lakers.

“We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss,” the statement read. “Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”

Read more:Shaikin: Some questions (and answers) about Mark Walter selling the Lakers

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.