Lakers' Jeanie Buss asking for brothers' votes for rest of her life

Los Angeles Lakers president Jeanie Buss has asked her older brothers Johnny Buss and Jim Buss for assurances they'll vote for her to remain both the controlling owner and a member of the team's board of directors for the rest of her life, according to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday.

The documents were in response to a filing by Jim and Johnny's attorneys that affirmed they'd vote her in to the team's board of directors for at least the next year.

To be elected as controlling owner, as mandated by the four family trusts that own 66 percent of the Lakers, Jeanie Buss also must be on the Lakers' board of directors.

In a letter sent to Jeanie Buss and other members of the Lakers' board on Feb. 24, Jim and Johnny proposed a slate of four directors that did not include Jeanie Buss or Joey Buss, who had previously served on the board.

Jeanie Buss' lawyers argued in court March 2 that Jim and Johnny are breaching their fiduciary responsibilities as trustees by not including her in the slate of proposed directors.

In Friday's court filing, Jeanie's lawyers argued that as trustees they have a fiduciary responsibility to support her as a director and controlling owner for the rest of her lifetime. If they are unwilling to comply, the lawsuit she has filed in probate court will proceed. The next hearing in that lawsuit is set for May 15.