Jesse Buss implied Jeanie Buss may have been behind his firing

An unexpected jolt of hope and enthusiasm came to the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this year when it was announced that the Buss family, which has owned the franchise since 1979, had agreed to sell a majority stake in it to Mark Walter. Walker, among other roles he holds, is the primary owner of the back-to-back World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and the belief has been that, as he has with the Dodgers, he will not hold back in looking to make the Lakers as successful as possible.

On Thursday came the first big organization moves, as Joey and Jesse Buss, both of whom played big roles in the team's scouting department, were terminated, along with members of its scouting staff. This could be a precursor to Walter bringing in a new scouting staff, just as he hired new personnel who helped transform the Dodgers from perennial losers into perennial contenders.

In an interview with Dan Woike and Sam Amick of The Athletic, Jesse Buss said that he's felt a growing rift between himself and others in the organization for the last two years, while implying that governor Jeanie Buss, his sister, may have been the one who was responsible for his firing.

“She’s fired everyone,” Jesse Buss said of Jeanie Buss’ dealings with other family members who have worked for the organization.

In 2017, Jeanie Buss fired her brother, Jim, after he had served as executive vice president of basketball operations. Despite the change in ownership, she will reportedly retain her role as governor for the foreseeable future.

Dr. Jerry Buss, the father of Joey, Jesse, Jeanie and Jim, purchased the Lakers in 1979, at a time when they had a reputation as a bridesmaid franchise. He remade their image with help from Hall of Fame players Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and turned them into the gold standard of basketball, as they won 10 NBA championships from the time he bought them until his death in 2013.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Jesse Buss implied Jeanie Buss may have been behind his firing