Joey and Jesse Buss are no longer serving as scouting executives for the L.A. Lakers’ front office, as the team’s new owner has fired them after more than a decade with the team.
Owner Mark Walter has released the longtime scouts as part of a reorganization, according to Sports Illustrated and ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons,” the pair said in a statement. “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 times like this, we wish we could ask our Dad what he would think about it all.”
The Lakers have not released a statement on what led to the decision to cut the Buss brothers loose.
The brothers, though, still own a minority stake in the team based on shares they received when their father, Jerry Buss, bought the team for $67.5 million in 1979. The Buss family sold their majority stake this year, but Joey and Jesse kept a 15 percent share, according to Yahoo Sports.
Joey and Jesse’s sister, Jeanine, Jerry’s eldest daughter, will continue in her role as the Lakers’ team governor. And the younger daughter, Janie, is reportedly keeping her position with the team’s charitable services department.
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