Joey and Jesse Buss, the youngest sons of former Los Angeles Lakers owner Dr. Jerry Buss, have placed multiple bids for NBA Europe ownership through their new business venture, Buss Sports Capital, and are also interested in an ownership stake in Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres, according to reports from The Athletic this week.
The Buss brothers, who were relieved of their front-office duties with the Los Angeles Lakers not long after Mark Walter’s purchase of the franchise at a $10 billion valuation from the Buss family was approved last fall, are reportedly perusing for pro sports ownership opportunities, notably in the NBA’s planned development league overseas.
Their potential forage into baseball would come as part of an ownership group led by José Feliciano and Kwanza Jones, per The Athletic. Feliciano and Jones have reportedly agreed to buy the Padres for $3.9 billion, but MLB hasn’t voted yet to approve the pending sale.
NBA Europe is still in the works, but the league — which is being drawn up in partnership with FIBA — is on track to debut in October 2027. If NBA Europe comes to fruition, a potential model is a 16-team league with 12 permanent locations. Teams in those cities would be joined by four clubs who qualify season-to-season.
The reported target cities are Rome and Milan in Italy, London and Manchester in England, Paris and Lyon in France, Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, Munich and Berlin in Germany as well as Athens in Greece and Istanbul in Turkey.
Joey and Jesse Buss are pursuing NBA Europe franchises in multiple markets, per The Athletic’s Dan Woike, including in England — both in London and Manchester — and in Lyon, France.
It’s reportedly possible the sibling duo considers a venture by Lakers star Luka Dončić and former Dallas Mavericks executive Donnie Nelson, too. Nelson leads an investor group that incorporates Dončić and bought Vanoli Cremona in Italy’s Lega Basket Serie A, the top Italian pro league. The club is relocating to Rome and will reportedly be in contention to represent the city in NBA Europe.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver told reporters Tuesday in Las Vegas that NBA Europe is poised to decide on bids in the coming weeks.
As for the Buss family, Jeanie Buss, the oldest daughter of Jerry Buss, remains the Lakers’ governor and will continue to occupy that role, at least for the next few years. Joey and Jesse Buss are still minority owners of the Lakers; however, as mentioned above, they were fired from their executive roles, in which Joey Buss served as the CEO and president of the G League’s South Bay Lakers and Jesse Buss worked as the team’s scouting director.
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