It’s a peculiar feature of the NBA that its biggest headlines are routinely generated off the court, at times making the games themselves feel secondary to front-office transactions (and rumors of front-office transactions).
Consider this past season, which concluded on Sunday night with the Oklahoma City Thunder claiming the NBA title after a riveting seven-game series against the Indiana Pacers. Memories of the Thunder will live on—the ruthless efficiency of league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the team’s collective defensive brilliance—but the defining storyline of the 2024-2025 campaign came in February, when the Dallas Mavericks sent Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers in a trade that still confounds the basketball-watching public.
The championship series was itself eclipsed by a pair of blockbuster deals. On Sunday, hours before tip-off in game seven, reports surfaced that the Phoenix Suns traded superstar Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets. And last week brought the news that Los Angeles Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter had purchased a majority stake in the Lakers for a reported $10 billion.
Actually, that brings to mind another feature of the NBA, which is that the Lakers are always relevant—even if it’s been almost two months since they last played.
That enduring cachet explains, in part, why Walter forked over such a staggering sum to take over the Lakers from the Buss family, which has owned the franchise since the late Jerry Buss bought his stake in 1979 for $67.5 million. Under the family’s ownership, the Lakers never lacked star power on the roster—from the reign of Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the 1980s to the early-milennium dynasty of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal to the current era headlined by LeBron James (and the newly acquired Dončić)—or courtside, where Jack Nicholson and other Hollywood bigwigs have long been fixtures.
The $10 billion figure paid by Walter is notable—not just because it represents the highest valuation ever for an American sports franchise, but also because it does not include the team’s downtown Los Angeles arena, which is owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group.
But what Walter does get is a highly lucrative brand—built on championships and glitz—that transcends the sport.
“It is not just basketball. It’s not just winning. It’s the celebrity. It’s the mix that the Buss family created. It’s that Showtime era,” said ESPN senior writer Ramona Shelburne, referring to the 1980s run immortalized in the HBO series Winning Time. “I think that’s impossible to evaluate.”
Despite Walter’s takeover, the Lakers will maintain continuity in their operations: Jeanie Buss, one of six Buss children, will stay in her role as the team’s governor, while the family’s trust will reportedly keep at least a 15% stake in the franchise.
Still, the sale represents a sea change for Los Angeles, and it comes during a period of considerable tumult in the city. In the same week that Walter bought the Lakers, the Dodgers denied federal immigration officers access to the team’s parking lots.
Walter’s purchase also comes at a time when lucrative media-rights deals have pushed franchise valuations to astronomical heights, forcing leagues (including the NBA) to open the door to private-equity investment. The days of one-team owners such as Buss have given way to an era dominated by the likes of Walter, whose portfolio also includes the Premier League club Chelsea FC.
“They’re not owners who are loyal to one team,” said Shelburne. “They’re investing in these teams as an investment, as a stock.”
