Lakers Fire Joey and Jesse Buss From Front Office Positions

This news is a shock to many, as the Lakers have announced that they are terminating executives Joey and Jesse Buss from their front office roles effective immediately. They served as front office representatives with the Lakers for 20 years.

Joey served as alternate governor and vice president of research and development, and Jesse was the Lakers’ assistant general manager.

The Los Angeles Lakers are reorganizing their basketball operations department and terminating executives Joey and Jesse Buss from their respective front office positions, effective immediately, the brothers told ESPN.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 20, 2025

A statement from Joey and Jesse Buss reads: “We are extremely honored to have been part of this organization for the last 20 seasons. 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.”

In addition, according to Dave McMenamin, much of the scouting staff has also been let go, sources told ESPN.

The Buss brothers served as key figures in Los Angeles’ scouting department over the years, bringing in Austin Reaves, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and Alex Caruso, among others.

Impact of Decision

Joey and Jesse will still have their minority ownership shares within the organization.

This move is the first huge decision under the Mark Walter ownership group. Walter has said on multiple occasions that Jeanie Buss will still be a part of the front office, but with this move taking place, maybe those plans could be different now.

As many people anticipated, once Walter took ownership of the team, there were going to be changes. This one was quite surprising, knowing the successful players both Joey and Jesse brought into the organization. Now comes the question: who will be in charge of the Lakers’ scouting department?

Mark Walter is cooking something up, and people should have no doubt that he knows how to run an organization. His Los Angeles Dodgers just won the title, so no one should be concerned.