JEANIE BUSS TELLS JUDGE HER FIVE SIBLINGS RAN A 'FALSE FLAG OPERATION'

The Buss family has owned the Lakers since 1979, and they are spending this part of it accusing each other of spycraft in Los Angeles Superior Court. In a 27-page filing Wednesday, Jeanie Buss's lawyers wrote that her siblings are casting themselves as victims when the whole episode is "their own false flag operation," and accused them of a "cloak and dagger" campaign of backroom votes that got shared with ESPN before they got shared with their own sister. Here is the actual money. Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse voted 5-0 to sell the family trust's remaining 17.8% stake using go-along rights tied to the latest sale, which values the team at $12.5 billion. Jeanie abstained. Each sibling stands to collect around $371 million. The catch is that the NBA requires a governor to hold at least 15%, so selling the stake quietly deletes Jeanie's job along with the shares. She wants Joey and Janie removed as co-trustees for breach of fiduciary duty and held in contempt, and wants Jim, Johnny and Jesse found liable for aiding and abetting a violation of a 2017 court order that said she runs the team for life. The siblings say the trust expressly gives them the right to sell, and that Jeanie's hypocrisy should not go unnoticed. Jerry Buss paid $67.5 million for this franchise in 1979. His kids turned it into a group chat with lawyers.

Why you should give a shit: On Dec. 8 a judge decides whether a Buss still runs the Lakers or whether five siblings take roughly $371 million apiece and leave Jeanie with really good seats.