Good morning! What looked Monday like a clean exit is now a family fight. Five of Jerry Buss’s six children put out a statement Tuesday reaffirming the sale of the family’s remaining 17.8 percent stake; the sixth, the one who runs the team, is challenging whether they have the authority to do it. Elsewhere, Nneka Ogwumike said this season will be her last, Fernando Tatis Jr. had the kind of night they make highlight reels out of, and a rookie right-hander gave the Angels their best start of the season. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
🏀 Family fight. Five Buss siblings say they’re united on the sale. Jeanie Buss is challenging its legality — Carlos Yakimowich in Los Angeles.
🏀 One more season. Nneka Ogwumike will retire after 2026 — Rey Moralde in Los Angeles.
⚾ Superhero night. Tatis homered twice and robbed Francisco Lindor of a grand slam in a 5-2 Padres win — Brady Charette at Citi Field.
⚾ Thirty for Ohtani. His 30th homer helped the Dodgers survive Coors Field, 7-6 — Anthony Arroyo at Coors Field.
⚾ Klassen’s best. The rookie threw seven shutout innings on one hit in a 3-1 Angels win in Houston — Jack Janes has it.
🏀 Exposed. Atlanta handed the Aces a second straight loss, 97-82 — Arion Armeniakos at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
🏈 Joint work. Biadasz went down as Herbert and Hampton shone against San Francisco — Fernando Ramirez at The Bolt.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — TUESDAY
⚾ MLB: Padres 5, Mets 2 · Dodgers 7, Rockies 6 · Angels 3, Astros 1
🏀 WNBA: Dream 97, Aces 82 · Sun 85, Sparks 77
🏀 THE BUSS FAMILY GOES PUBLIC
Monday’s news was that the Buss family had voted to sell its remaining 17.8 percent of the Lakers into the $12.5 billion Kushner-Iger transaction. Tuesday’s news is that Jeanie Buss didn’t vote for it — and isn’t accepting it.
Five siblings — Johnny, Jim, Janie, Joey and Jesse — issued a joint statement reaffirming the sale. “The Los Angeles Lakers have never been just a basketball team,” it read. “Johnny, Jimmy, Janie, Joey and Jesse have made the decision to sell the family’s remaining stake, and we remain united in that decision.” Jeanie, the team’s governor and controlling owner, was the lone holdout, and her attorney Adam Streisand is challenging whether the others can act without her. He points to a 2017 court ruling from an earlier family fight requiring approval from all three co-trustees — Jeanie, Janie and Joey — and has demanded the siblings publicly acknowledge that Jeanie remains controlling owner. The complication: Janie and Joey are co-trustees and among the five backing the sale.
The stakes are concrete. Under the Walter arrangement, Jeanie was expected to remain governor through 2030. If the family’s shares go, she falls below the 15 percent the NBA requires to hold the role. Kushner and Iger are set to acquire roughly 65 percent from Walter; add the Buss stake and they’d control about 83 percent. Jeanie Buss became the first female controlling owner to win an NBA title in 2020. Five of her siblings are ready to turn the page. She is not.
GO DEEPER
› Carlos Yakimowich: Five Buss siblings ‘united’ on Lakers sale as Jeanie Buss fights back (The Sporting Tribune)
› Carlos Yakimowich: Buss family to sell remaining Lakers ownership stake (The Sporting Tribune)
TOGETHER WITH BETONLINE
Today’s TST Best Bets are brought to you by BetOnline.ag. Join here — new players get a 50% welcome bonus and up to $250 in free bets.
🏀 OGWUMIKE CALLS IT
Nneka Ogwumike announced she will retire at the end of the 2026 season, closing one of the most decorated careers in Sparks history. She has been the steady presence in Los Angeles through a championship, an MVP season and the rebuild that followed — and the buzzer-beater she hit against the Liberty in the franchise’s 30th-anniversary game this June is the kind of thing this market will keep replaying long after she’s done.
The timing is bittersweet. Los Angeles dropped its fifth straight Tuesday, never leading in a loss to Connecticut. But the remaining schedule now doubles as a farewell tour, and Crypto.com Arena has a reason to show up for the rest of it.
GO DEEPER
› Rey Moralde: Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike announces retirement following 2026 season (The Sporting Tribune)
› Rey Moralde: Sparks never lead against Sun, drop fifth straight (The Sporting Tribune)
⚾ TATIS TAKES OVER QUEENS
Tatis hit the first pitch of the game 452 feet at 113 mph — his fourth homer of at least 450 feet this season, most in the majors. In the second, with the bases loaded and two outs, he ran down Francisco Lindor’s drive in the right-field corner and took a grand slam off the wall; Robbie Ray could only stand on the mound and stare. In the fifth he went deep again, this time just over the glove of Carson Benge, the rookie who had thrown out two Padres at the plate a night earlier.
It was Tatis’s 14th career multi-homer game and first since June 30. Manny Machado added his team-leading 24th in the ninth, and Mason Miller struck out the side’s final two batters for his 31st save, lowering his ERA to 0.86 across 50 appearances. Ray turned in his best start as a Padre — six innings, one run, three hits. San Diego (68-59) has won eight of 10 and doubled its lead over Arizona for the third NL Wild Card spot. Michael King goes for a fourth straight series win Wednesday.
GO DEEPER
› Brady Charette: Fernando Tatis Jr. plays superhero, powers Padres past Mets (The Sporting Tribune)
⚾ THIRTY FOR OHTANI, AND A WIN THEY HAD TO SWEAT
Ohtani’s two-run shot in the third was his 30th of the season, part of an August in which he’s hitting .309/.365/.632. The Dodgers needed all of it, holding on 7-6 in a game that turned into a Coors Field slugfest. Eric Lauer gave up four earned across five innings, Evan Phillips allowed a run in the eighth and Tanner Scott had to work through a ninth-inning run to close out his 17th save.
The encouraging footnote: Kyle Tucker doubled home a run in a three-run fourth. It’s a small thing for a player hitting well below what a four-year, $240 million deal implies, but it’s the kind of small thing that can start something. Rōki Sasaki closes the series Wednesday against Kyle Freeland.
GO DEEPER
› Anthony Arroyo: Dodgers hold off Rockies in high-scoring Coors Field battle (The Sporting Tribune)
⚾ A ROOKIE ARM WORTH WATCHING IN ANAHEIM
George Klassen was never a top-100 prospect — electric stuff, shaky command, the usual profile. The command has tightened, and Tuesday in Houston he threw seven shutout innings on one hit with seven strikeouts in a 3-1 win. His slider was untouchable: 12 whiffs on 20 swings, one hard-hit ball in five put in play. His fastball sat at 96.7 and topped out at 99.2. Since rejoining the rotation this month, Klassen has a 1.59 ERA across three starts.
The offense did its work with two outs — all three runs and seven of eight hits came after the second out, including Josh Lowe’s 10th homer into the Crawford Boxes and Zach Neto’s RBI double off the left-field wall.
GO DEEPER
› Jack Janes: Klassen deals, two-out rallies lead Angels to win in Houston (The Sporting Tribune)
📺 WATCHLIST — WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19
⚾ MLB: Padres at Mets — Citi Field — 10:10 a.m. — Padres TV
⚾ MLB: Angels at Astros — Daikin Park — 5:10 p.m. — ABTV
⚾ MLB: Dodgers at Rockies — Coors Field — 5:40 p.m. — SNLA
⚽ MLS: LAFC at Rapids — Dick’s Sporting Goods Park — 6:30 p.m. — Apple TV
⚽ MLS: Earthquakes at Galaxy — Dignity Health Sports Park — 7:30 p.m. — Apple TV
⚽ MLS: San Diego FC at Timbers — Providence Park — 7:30 p.m. — Apple TV
Coming up: Michael King chases a fourth straight series win for San Diego, Rōki Sasaki closes out Colorado, and all three local MLS sides are in action.
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
Get-in prices across Southern California, Las Vegas, Hawaii — brought to you by TickPick, the no-hidden-fee ticket marketplace.
⚽ Earthquakes at Galaxy — Dignity Health Sports Park — $16
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Jeanie Buss achieved a first in 2020 that no other woman in NBA history had. What was it?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
Today’s episode gets into a Buss family fight that could decide who runs the Lakers, Nneka Ogwumike’s decision to walk away after this season, and a Tatis performance in Queens that had everything. Hear it on the radio across Southern California, Las Vegas and Hawaii via Westwood One Sports, The Bet Las Vegas, Hawaii Sports Radio Network and KIRN in Los Angeles.
› Listen to the latest episode
Trivia answer: She became the first female controlling owner to lead a team to an NBA championship.
Thanks for reading! Follow us on X and Instagram, or drop us a line at tips@thesportingtribune.com.