LA’s NBA teams are making headlines for the wrong reasons

The GIST: From family strife to alleged money mishandlings, the NBA is giving reality TV…and providing plenty of programming as both LA teams make headlines for all the wrong reasons. Let’s hoop to it.

💸 Is the Buss family selling their stake in the LA Lakers?: In short, TBD. The family’s been synonymous with the purple and gold for almost five decades, but that seemed set to change after reports surfaced on Monday that the six Buss siblings were selling their remaining 17.8% stake in the franchise. That’s when things got messy…

• Jeanie Buss, the Lakers’ governor since 2013, refuted the report through her lawyer mere hours later, claiming a 2017 court order prevents her siblings from selling the stake without her explicit consent. Is this an episode of Running Point?

• The Lakers’ majority ownership has changed hands twice in 14 months, but Buss was supposed to remain in her role through both transitions. That’s off the table if the family sells as the NBA requires team governors to own at least a 15% stake in their teams. Stay tuned.

👀 Did the LA Clippers circumvent the salary cap to pay Kawhi Leonard?: At this point, who knows. The latest in an ongoing saga, ESPN reported on Monday that the NBA has no evidence that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer funneled money to Leonard through sponsorship deals. But the league said hours later that the story contains “numerous and significant inaccuracies.” Alrighty then.

• The NBA will reveal those inaccuracies when their probe concludes, but time is of the essence, especially for Toronto Raptors fans. The season tips off in two months, and a trade sending Leonard back to the Six remains on hold. Even for a fun guy, this is no laughing matter.