Buried in the 39-page trust document stamped “Confidential” is the paragraph at the heart of the struggle to control the Lakers.
Wedged between legalese about distributing household items and trustee powers, the 148 words lay out Jerry Buss’ plan for who would run the team after his death in 2013.
“The trustees,” the document says, “shall take whatever actions are reasonably available to them to have Jeanie M. Buss appointed as the new Controlling Owner of The Los Angeles Lakers, Inc.”
The trust document reviewed by The Times — one of four virtually identical trusts through which the Buss family owns 66% of the Lakers — is a key part of the simmering dispute between Jeanie Buss and her brothers, Jim and Johnny, that became public last week.