Category: NBA

The Los Angeles Lakers' proposed $10billion (£7.45bn) sale to the TWG Global CEO Mark Walter would make them the most expensive sports team in the world.

Should the sale of the Lakers - who have been owned by the Buss family since 1979, be completed - it will be the most expensive takeover in sports history.

Forbes named Dallas Cowboys ahead of the Lakers' estimated sale value with a valuation of $10.1bn (£7.5bn). However, they were last sold in 1989 to owner Jerry Jones.

The previous record sale for a sports team is one of the Lakers' NBA rivals in the Boston Celtics, who were sold for $6.1bn (£4.5bn) in March this year.

Of the 10 highest-recorded sports team sales, nine of them are from American franchises across American football, basketball and baseball.

What about English football teams?

Chelsea's sale to Clearlake Capital and Todd Boehly for $5.4bn (£4bn) is the fourth highest in sports history.

No other football team enters the top 10 in terms of highest recorded sports team sales.

Manchester United, with a valuation of $6.55bn (£4.9bn) are viewed as the most valuable English football team, ranking 14th in Forbes' list. Although they did trail neighbours Manchester City in Deloitte's Football Money League for 2025.

Liverpool (27th) and Manchester City (32nd) also feature in Forbes' most valuable sports teams list.

Top 10 highest sports team sales

1. Los Angeles Lakers (Basketball) $10bn
2. Boston Celtics (Basketball) $6.1bn
3. Washington Commanders (American football) $6.05bn
4. Chelsea (Football) $5.4bn
5. Denver Broncos (American football) $4.65bn
6. Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury (Basketball) $4bn
7. Dallas Mavericks (Basketball) $3.5bn
8. Charlotte Hornets (Basketball) $3bn
9. New York Mets (Baseball) $2.4bn
10. Carolina Panthers (American football) $2.275bn

*Figures are based on highest sports team sales and at the Los Angeles Lakers' expected sale price

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Takeoff: Jay Bilas discusses Ace Bailey vs. VJ Edgecombe for Sixers originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

So, who should the Sixers take at No. 3 in the 2025 NBA draft?

ESPN’s Jay Bilas gave his insight on the latest Takeoff with John Clark podcast.

Is Ace Bailey mature enough? What’s the scoop on VJ Edgecombe? Could Dylan Harper drop to the Sixers?

Bilas touched on that and more below.

Celtics draft fits: Is Illinois' Kasparas Jakucionis worth trading up for? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Should the Boston Celtics trade up in the 2025 NBA Draft to select a player who could make a meaningful impact as a rookie?

The C’s are one of only three teams in the second apron of the luxury tax, which limits their ability to add players via trade and free agency. Therefore, the upcoming draft is likely the best avenue for the Celtics to add young, cost-controlled young players.

More Celtics Draft Fits:

• Ryan Kalkbrenner
• Thomas Sorber
• Adou Thiero
• Rasheer Fleming
• Liam McNeeley
• Walter Clayton Jr.
• Asa Newell
• Nique Clifford
• Chaz Lanier
• Koby Brea
• Maxime Raynaud
• Cedric Coward

But the Celtics own the No. 28 pick near the end of Round 1. There are usually a couple good players near the end of the first round and early second round in each draft, but finding them is difficult.

If the Celtics packaged the No. 28 pick, the No. 32 pick (second pick in Round 2) and maybe a future pick, perhaps they’d be able to move up into the late lottery or early 20s.

And if they were able to swing that kind of move, one player worth considering in that range is Illinois guard Kasparas Jakucionis. He is projected to land between the No. 10 and No. 17 picks in a lot of mock drafts.

Learn more about Jakucionis and his potential fit with the C’s below:

Kasparas Jakucionis’ bio

• Position: Guard
• Height: 6-foot-6
• Weight: 200 pounds
• Birthdate: May 29, 2006
• Birthplace: Vilnius, Lithuania
• College: Illinois

Kasparas Jakucionis’ collegiate stats

• 2024-25: 15.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 44.0 field goal percentage, 31.8 3-point percentage (33 games)

Kasparas Jakucionis’ college accolades

• 2025 Big Ten All-Freshman Team
• 2025 All-B1G Second Team (AP)

Kasparas Jakucionis’ highlights

Why Kasparas Jakucionis fits with Celtics

Jakucionis hit just 31.8 percent of his 3-pointers for the Fighting Illini, but an arm injury during the season might have been the reason for those struggles. He does have a nice offensive game driving to the basket. He boasts an impressive repertoire of moves near the rim, including fantastic footwork. Jakucionis is a three-level scorer and is effective on pick-and-roll scenarios.

The Lithuanian guard also is a very good playmaker, but he did turn the ball over a little too much at Illinois — 3.7 turnovers per game, tied for the fourth-most of any player last season — so he’ll have to clean that up a bit in the pros.

Should the Celtics target Jakucionis in Round 1, especially if they have to trade up to get him?

Here’s what our insider Chris Forsberg thinks:

“The one-and-done Illinois combo guard is known for his creative passing and the way he sees the floor. He gets to the free throw line a lot, too, and as we’ve seen with Jalen Brunson and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the foul-merchant business is a good one to be in.

“Before suffering a midseason arm injury, Jakucionis was shooting 41 percent from 3-point range. His numbers dipped afterward. If that dip can be attributed to his injury, his game fills out a bit more. If the Celtics can get higher in the draft through some wheeling and dealing, Jakucionis could be the target.”

Warriors' 2025 NBA offseason has to start with shooting, scoring firepower originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

If the Oklahoma City Thunder end the Indiana Pacers’ season Thursday night, or simply win one of the next two games in the 2025 NBA Finals, the age-old adage of “defense wins championships” can take a victory lap. 

The Thunder had the best defense all regular season, and that continued in the playoffs. Their league-best 106.6 defensive rating has dropped to 105.9 in the playoffs, with one or two games remaining. They averaged 10.3 steals per game in the regular season, and that number has jumped to 10.9 in the playoffs. OKC’s defense circles its prey, swarms, and in thunderous unison releases the Kraken to send a dagger through their opponents. 

Having a 26-year-old MVP who’s a modernized throwback scoring machine that averaged 32.7 points per game to lead the NBA this season certainly helps. So does having a No. 2 who can score all over the floor. Jalen Williams has increased his scoring output in each of the first five games of the Finals, putting 40 on the Indiana Pacers to take a three-games-to-two series lead in Game 5. 

Wherever the Warriors have been watching the Finals, they could be shaking their heads and sweating at the mere thought of going against the Thunder’s defense for a playoff series in the alternate universe that a healthy Steph Curry led them past the Minnesota Timberwolves and into the Western Conference Finals. In the real world of how the Warriors’ season unfolded with an injured Curry watching from the sidelines, however, the front office should have seen that more shooting and scoring firepower will be needed to get past the Thunder and anybody else if they want to climb the mountain once more in the next two years of Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond’s Green contracts. 

“When Steph went out, the lack of shooting was an issue, and that impacted Draymond, it impacted Jimmy, impacted [Jonathan Kuminga],” Steve Kerr said after the season. “So those are things that we have to figure out for sure.”

In the four games of the conference semifinals that Curry missed because of his strained hamstring, the Warriors only made 38 threes and shot 31.9 percent. As the Timberwolves kept missing, the Warriors made 18 threes in their Game 1 win when Curry had 13 points and three 3-pointers in just 13 minutes. They made 11 threes in that win after his exit, but five came from Buddy Hield. 

The other six were from a combination of Green, Butler, Kuminga and Gary Payton II, four players considered “non-shooters” from deep. The Warriors in Game 2 through 5 averaged 9.5 threes per game, five fewer than the Timberwolves’ average of 14.5. 

Plenty of question marks surround the Warriors going into the offseason. There’s one certainty: If healthy, Curry, Butler and Green will all be in the starting five as the trio that makes everything go. When those three are on the floor together, the Warriors like their chances against anyone. It also complicates a couple of things. 

“Obviously with Steph, he’s such a unique player and creates so much gravity, but Jimmy and Draymond are unique in their own rights,” Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy said last month. “Jimmy’s ability to get to the line, it’s a highly efficient way to score and get to the basket and those things.

“We’ve got ways to be a really good offense, but it’s just maybe not as traditional in 2025 as some of these other clubs.” 

Simply said, the Warriors can’t be a five-out team with both Butler and Green in the lineup. Can they even be a four-out team? On a list that could be long, shooting and scoring have to be the Warriors’ main priority entering the NBA draft, free agency and possibly conducting their next trade. 

That can come through multiple avenues, including internally. It’s no surprise that the best offensive rating of a three-man unit for the Warriors that included Butler and Green was inserting Curry (117.8 offensive rating). But Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski were the two players who spent the most regular-season minutes next to Butler and Green. 

Moody in the final 28 games of the regular season when he became an everyday starter shot 36.8 percent from three with 1.3 steals per game as a steady two-way player. From Jan. 1 to the end of the regular season, a 48-game span, Moody was a 37.6 percent 3-point shooter on five attempts per game. He then shot 33.3 percent in the playoffs, went four consecutive games without a made three, and was a shell of himself offensively. 

The Warriors then announced Moody underwent surgery to repair a torn UCL in his right shooting thumb less than a week after the season ended. Like Moody, health surely played a part in Podziemski’s playoff shooting struggles. 

Podziemski played 26 regular-season games after the Butler trade and shot 41.7 percent from three on six attempts per game. He averaged 15 points per game in that span, and then 11.3 points per game in the playoffs on 32.8 percent beyond the arc. Forty percent of his points in the playoffs came from two games. 

And then the Warriors announced Podziemski has gone through left wrist surgery and surgery to repair a core muscle injury this offseason. The healthy sample sizes of Podziemski and Moody, especially with how they fit their roles once Butler was aboard, has to make the Warriors feel confident moving forward. 

Hield was brought in to pick up the 3-point slack from Klay Thompson’s departure, and he fulfilled that need by making at least 200 threes for a seventh straight season. He also averaged 9.3 points and shot 31 percent from three for a two-month stretch. Hield is hot and cold, rarely finding a middle ground. 

The reality of a possible Kuminga return as a restricted free agent only intensifies the need for more shooting. Curry has played at least 70 games the last two seasons, and that number should be expected to drop next season and the season after. A scorer like Kuminga can help ease that burden, but only if the proper shooting is around him, spacing the floor for driving room to the basket. 

Size is undoubtedly part of the priority list. Height might not matter much if the player can’t stretch the floor like we’re seeing by the last two teams standing from players like Chet Holmgren and Myles Turner. The Pacers have a true five-out starting lineup, and the Thunder led the NBA in 3-point percentage once the calendar moved to 2025. 

The NBA offseason began before the season even ended when the Orlando Magic traded for Desmond Bane on Sunday. Why did the Magic send Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, four first-round picks and a future pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies for someone who’s yet to make an All-Star team in his first five seasons? Because Bane’s scoring ability as someone who has averaged more than 20 points twice, and shooting 41 percent behind the 3-point line for his career, is exactly what the Magic have been missing.

Making it further than a second-round exit is the expectation after understanding who the Warriors are in the Butler era. The only way that will happen is if the main investment the next few weeks and throughout the summer is circling players who can put points on the scoreboard and make the nets drip once again inside Chase Center, and beyond.

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The Los Angeles Lakers will become the most expensive sports team in history with a valuation of $10 billion (£7.45 billion) after an agreement was reached to sell a controlling stake to TWG Global CEO Mark Walter.

The Buss family, which has owned the team since 1979, has made a deal to sell to Walter, who also has a controlling stake in the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and is part of the group that owns Chelsea.

Walter has been a stakeholder in the Lakers since 2021, when he took a 20 per cent holding in the franchise. He has overseen a period of success with the Dodgers, who won the World Series last year and in 2020.

The valuation of the Lakers comfortably eclipses that of their rivals, the Boston Celtics, who were sold for $6.1 billion (£4.5 billion) earlier this year, then a record-high price for an American sports team.

The Lakers are one of the most prominent teams in basketball and home to 40-year-old LeBron James, who won his fourth career championship with the team in 2020.

They made a blockbuster trade earlier this year for Slovenian Luka Doncic with the Dallas Mavericks, sending Anthony Davis in the other direction, one of the most unexpected moves in NBA history.

Why are the Lakers being sold?

Jerry Buss, who bought the team for $67.5 million 46 years ago, died in 2013 and passed ownership of the Lakers to his six children in a trust. The family were in control of 66 per cent of the team but the terms of the trust reportedly required all six of the children to agree on any potential sale.

That appears to have happened, although Jeanie Buss, who has worked as the Lakers governor, is expected to keep her title under the new ownership structure. When Walter initially invested in 2021 it is understood he was given the option to become majority owner if the situation arose.

What does it mean?

Fans and analysts are optimistic about Walter leading the Lakers to the sort of success he has enjoyed with the Dodgers. “Mark Walter is the best choice and will be the best caretaker of the Laker brand,” said their hall-of-famer Magic Johnson. “He is driven by winning, excellence and doing everything the right way. AND he will put in the resources needed to win.”

The Lakers have qualified for the play-offs in four of the past five seasons, but other than their Championship win in 2020 they have been knocked out in the first round. James remains a remarkably potent force given his age, but Doncic is the player the new Lakers era will be built around.

Who is Mark Walter and how has he made his money?

A 65-year-old businessman and CEO of the investment and financial services company Guggenheim Partners, which manages more than $330 billion (£246 billion) of assets. Highly private, his estimated net worth is disputed with one calculation guessing at $6 billion (£4.45 billion), another at $12 billion (£8.9 billion). A long career in insurance, investment and financial services has been extremely lucrative.

What other teams does he own?

The Dodgers are his best-known other interest, only behind the New York Yankees in baseball in estimated value and cultural heft. Last year they recruited the sport’s biggest name Shohei Ohtani. The Dodgers general manager, Dave Roberts, has already mock-warned Walter not to move Ohtani over to basketball, saying, “Hands off of Shohei. They got enough superstars wearing the purple and gold. Leave him alone.”

With his frequent investment partner Todd Boehly, Walter is part of BlueCo, the holding company which controls Chelsea and RC Strasbourg. Walter also has stakes in the Los Angeles Sparks women’s basketball team, owns the top league of women’s ice hockey in the USA and several motorsport teams, including Cadillac, which will compete in Formula One next year.

Why are the Lakers worth $10bn?

They are arguably the best-known and certainly the most popular team in a sport which is in rude health. Their brand has worldwide reach, guaranteeing lucrative earnings from merchandise and licensing around the globe. This is aided by their starry reputation as the team which frequently has the face of the league within its ranks: James currently but Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar before him.

TV rights are negotiated locally for games not shown nationally in basketball and Los Angeles is one of the biggest markets in the country. Thanks to the closed-shop nature of American sport, operating without relegation, there are few reasons to believe the money will ever stop rolling in.

2025 NBA Mock Draft: What would a trade up look like for Celtics? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

For the better part of Brad Stevens’ tenure as Boston Celtics president of basketball operations, draft picks have been a bit of an afterthought. 

Stevens didn’t make a first-round pick in his first three years at the helm, preferring to utilize those assets to reshape the complementary pieces around the superstar tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. That strategy delivered Boston to two NBA Finals appearances in three years, and helped the team raise Banner 18 in 2024. 

But a new collective bargaining agreement is forcing teams to prioritize drafting and developing in order to piece together the complicated financial puzzle that comes with building around two big-ticket stars. Hitting on first-round picks has never felt more important for contending teams.

All of which has us pondering all of Boston’s potential pathways in the 2025 draft. Given the murky nature of the season ahead, might this be a good time for Stevens to flip the draft-day script and ponder shimmying up in the annual pick-a-palooza?

The case for Celtics trading up

The absence of Tatum as he rehabs from Achilles surgery could change Boston’s regular-season priorities. The development of younger talent should be a bigger emphasis than the past three seasons, when the Celtics were laser-focused on title pursuits.

In a quest to find low-cost talent to pair with whatever remains of this championship core, the Celtics could give beefed-up minutes to recent draftees like Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh, while also leaning heavily into any rookie they moved up to select.

Any expected growing pains are slightly offset by tempered expectations while Tatum is out, and the Celtics would embrace developing the players selected during the Stevens era.

The case against Celtics trading up

Much of what the Celtics do this summer will be steered by money.

The Celtics need to cut $20 million from next year’s payroll just to get off the punitive second apron, and they’d need to trim $20 million more to get below the luxury tax. Moving up in the draft slots a player at a higher annual salary.

What’s more, moving up would eliminate other swings of the bat, a risk given the crapshoot nature of picking outside the lottery. 

How high can Celtics climb?

The Celtics currently own picks Nos. 28 and 32 in the 2025 NBA Draft. Unlike the NFL, there’s no widely-accepted NBA draft pick value chart, which makes it difficult to gauge just how high the Celtics might be able to climb if they packaged both their 2025 picks in hopes of shimmying up for a desired target. 

Some old-school charts, like one created by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, suggest Boston might be able to get into the low 20s. More recent attempts to establish draft value suggest Boston might only be able to climb a handful of spots.

For the purposes of this exercise, the Celtics are calling the Hawks, who are slotted at Nos. 13 and 22, with the goal of moving up six spots for a player who lingers on the board coming out of the lottery.

The Hawks slide back, content with what they got at 13 and now armed with additional swings of the bat.

Let’s get to the trade-centric mock: 

1. Dallas Mavericks: Cooper Flagg, Duke

2. San Antonio Spurs: Dylan Harper, Rutgers

3. Philadelphia 76ers: VJ Edgecombe, Baylor

The Sixers wish this was the year they could move from No. 3 to No. 1, instead of 2017.

If we were Daryl Morey, we’d be moving the No. 3 pick this year for the best available veteran and crossing our fingers on Joel Embiid’s health next season. They’ll have another lottery pick next year if that doesn’t work out.

4. Charlotte Hornets: Ace Bailey, Rutgers

5. Utah Jazz: Kon Knueppel, Duke

6. Washington Wizards: Tre Johnson, Texas

7. New Orleans Pelicans: Jeremiah Fears, Oklahoma

The Pelicans now have picks Nos. 7 and 23 after swinging a deal with the Pacers during the middle of the NBA Finals. New general manager Joe Dumars can make a splash by trying to move up in the draft, but he stands pat in this scenario.

8. Brooklyn Nets: Noa Essengue, France

9. Toronto Raptors: Khaman Maluach, Duke

10. Houston Rockets (via Suns): Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois

The Rockets are almost certainly going to take a swing this summer, and it sure feels like the No. 10 pick could be a centerpiece of whatever they do. 

11. Portland Trail Blazers: Carter Bryant, Arizona

12. Chicago Bulls: Derik Queen, Maryland

13. Atlanta Hawks (via Kings): Egor Demin, BYU

The Hawks get an intriguing young guard with their first pick and can hunt a big man when they’re back on the clock with Boston’s No. 28 pick.

14. San Antonio Spurs (via Hawks): Nique Clifford, Colorado State

15. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Heat): Asa Newell, Georgia

Newell is the move-up prize we might covet most for the Celtics, but the Thunder are so well stocked that they can roll the dice on his intriguing upside.

16. Memphis Grizzlies (via Magic): Hugo Gonzalez, Spain

17. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Pistons): Drake Powell, North Carolina

18. Washington Wizards (via Grizzlies): Cedric Coward, Washington State

19. Brooklyn Nets (via Bucks): Thomas Sorber, Georgetown

You never want to draft for need. But undeniably, with all the uncertainty in the Celtics’ frontcourt, it feels important for Boston to at least prioritize size.

If Sorber is still on the board in the late teens, he’s a very intriguing move-up option with his two-way potential. 

20. Miami Heat (via Warriors): Danny Wolf, Michigan

21. Utah Jazz (via Wolves): Will Riley, Illinois

22. Boston Celtics (via Hawks): Joan Beringer, France

Look, do I have a thing for shot-blocking, lob-finishing big men? Obviously. (Miss you, Rob.)

The Celtics need an injection of youth and athleticism, and they get all of that in a player who will still be 18 when the NBA season tips.

Normally, we’d be thinking draft-and-stash with a pick like this, but we’re wondering if you could throw him right to the wolves (the Minnesota version and beyond) and let him learn on the NBA job.

23. New Orleans Pelicans (via Pacers): Nolan Traore, France

24. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Clippers): Noah Penda, France

Three Frenchmen in a row?! The L’Hexagone Trois? Aww, oui oui.

25. Orlando Magic (via Nuggets): Liam McNeeley, UConn

26. Brooklyn Nets (via Knicks): Jase Richardson, Michigan State

27. Brooklyn Nets (via Rockets): Walter Clayton Jr., Florida

28. Atlanta Hawks (via Celtics): Maxime Raynaud, Stanford

29. Phoenix Suns (via Suns): Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton

30. Los Angeles Clippers (via Thunder): Hugo Gonzalez, Spain

For 46 years it’s been a wonderful ride, the sweetest of sagas, the Buss family treating the Lakers like their precocious child, nurturing, embracing, empowering, transforming them into arguably this country’s most celebrated sports franchise.

But it’s time.

It’s time to give their baby to somebody who won’t be burdened by the family ties or deep friendships that have increasingly interfered with the chasing of championships.

It’s time to hand their beloved to somebody with enough money to keep it strong and enough vision to keep it relevant.

It’s time for the Lakers to... become the Dodgers?

Yes! It’s them! They’re here! Welcome, welcome, welcome! Come on in! Make yourself at home! History has been waiting for you!

Read more:Lakers selling majority ownership of franchise to Dodgers owner

This is really happening, the majority ownership of the Lakers is really being sold to Dodgers chairman Mark Walter and his TWG Global group at a franchise valuation of $10 billion, making it the richest transaction in sports history.

To Los Angeles sports fans, it’s worth even more.

For the future of professional sports in this city, it’s priceless.

This is the best thing to happen to the Southland’s sports landscape since, well, the last time Walter’s TWG Global group bought something this big.

It was 2012, and they bought the Dodgers, and just look what they’ve done with them.

Since 2013, Walter’s team has been in the playoffs every year, won their division 11 of those 12 years, appeared in four World Series and won two of them.

Since 2013, the Lakers have won one title in their only Finals appearance during that period while making the playoffs only half the time.

Mad respect to the Buss family, who oversaw 11 championships while providing the stage for greats from Magic Johnson to Kobe Bryant to LeBron James. But since the death of patriarch Jerry Buss in 2013, the organization has lacked a sustained championship vision and effective championship culture.

Everybody loves Jeanie Buss, who will continue in her role as Lakers governor, but she has grown increasingly out of touch with the demands of the modern game.

Where contending teams are now led by analytics-driven minds, she would rely on old friends like Linda and Kurt Rambis and Rob Pelinka, who became part of the family by being Kobe Bryant’s agent.

Where contending teams increasingly relied on younger players, Buss’ Lakers were always tied to aging superstars, their title hopes crashing around a hobbled Bryant and now buckling under a slowly eroding James.

Since Jerry Buss’ death, the vision-less Lakers have wandered through the NBA desert in search of a strong leader who could build for sustained success.

In Walter’s group, they have that leader.

If the Dodgers are any indication, the Lakers are in for the sort of massive facelift that would make even a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon blush.

There will be money poured into the Lakers’ woefully small infrastructure, more money for coaches, more money for scouts, more money for trainers, more money for the amenities at Crypto.com Arena.

Who knows, maybe even more money for a new arena eventually? Don’t scoff, the Dodgers spent more than $500 million just to put a shine on Dodger Stadium, they will dig deep for that fan experience. They will dig deep for everything.

If there’s an insanely expensive but wildly successful general manager candidate out there — former Golden State guru Bob Myers comes to mind — the new Lakers will buy him.

If there’s an experienced but costly head coaching candidate hanging around, the new Lakers will nab him.

Although they will be somewhat constrained by the salary cap, the new Lakers will go deep into any tax to buy the best players as long as they can retain their draft picks.

The Dodgers are about winning every year, not just the next year, so expect the new Lakers to covet the future as much as the present.

This is good news for young Luka Doncic. This is not such good news for James.

The Buss family always vowed to do whatever it takes to keep James happy and allow him to retire here. The new Lakers won’t be so sentimental. James hasn’t signed on for next season yet, and maybe this change of ownership changes what once appeared to be a slam dunk.

The new Lakers won’t have the rich heart of the old Lakers. But they also won’t have the old destructive loyalties.

The new Lakers will be only about winning, something Jerry Buss understood and amplified, something which has been sadly lost since his passing.

The Buss family was good for Los Angeles, and their stewardship of one of this city’s crown sports jewels should be celebrated.

But it’s time, and it’s perfect that their neighbors down the road have decided to be the ones to spruce up the place.

Before this sale, the only thing the Dodgers and Lakers shared occurred after victories, when both team’s sound systems would blare, “I Love L.A.”

Now they share a championship bank account, a championship vision, and a championship commitment.

Man, I love L.A.

Read more:Plaschke: A painful truth: Lakers must trade Austin Reaves

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Lakers, a family-run business since Jerry Buss purchased the franchise in 1979, will be sold to Dodgers controlling owner Mark Walter and TWG Global, according to multiple people briefed on the deal.

The deal is expected to occur with the Lakers’ valuation being about $10 billion — a record for a professional sports franchise.

Walter will now lead the city’s two premier professional sports teams.

Control of the Lakers went into a family trust after Buss died in 2013, with daughter Jeanie Buss operating as the team’s governor. The structure of the trust meant the majority of Buss’ six children — Johnny, Jim, Jeanie, Janie, Joey and Jess — would need to agree for a sale to occur.

The Lakers didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The sale was viewed as a massive surprise in NBA circles.

Read more:Lakers will be looking for bargain deals when offseason gets here

Jeanie Buss reportedly will remain governor under the terms of the sale. All controlling governors representing teams in league meetings need to own at least 15% of the franchise to serve. The Buss family owned 66%.

The sale will end family-run control of the Lakers, who have achieved incredible success — 11 NBA championships earned by some of the league’s most iconic figures, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James — under Buss and his children’s leadership.

“I know that my sister Jeanie would have only considered selling the Lakers organization to someone she knows and trusts would carry on the Buss legacy, started by her father Dr. Buss. Now she can comfortably pass the baton to Mark Walter, with whom she has a real friendship and can trust,” Magic Johnson wrote in a post on X.

“She’s witnessed him build a winning team with the Dodgers and knows that Mark will do right by the Lakers team, organization, and fans! Both are extremely intelligent, visionaries, great leaders, and have positively impacted the greater Los Angeles community! I love both my sister @JeanieBuss and my business partner Mark Walter.”

In March, Bill Chisholm purchased the Boston Celtics from Wyc Grousbeck for $6.1 billion. Mark Cuban sold his control of the Dallas Mavericks late in 2023 for $3.5 billion.

And earlier that year, Marc Lasry sold the Milwaukee Bucks for $3.5 billion. Grousbeck and Cuban were two of Jeanie Buss’ closest confidantes among league ownership.

Walter and Todd Boehly became the Lakers’ largest minority shareholders in 2021 when they bought 27% of the franchise — a stake previously held by Phil Anschutz.

“The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the most successful and admired franchises in sports history,” Walter said in a news release at the time. “I have watched the organization grow under Jeanie’s leadership and couldn’t be more excited to partner with her and the entire management team. I am committed to supporting the franchise’s iconic status by continuing to bring together culture, community and entertainment to Lakers’ fans.”

Walter was a relatively anonymous billionaire in 2012, when Johnson and Stan Kasten were the marquee partners in the purchase of of the Dodgers for $2 billion, then the largest price paid for a Major League Baseball team.

Critics scoffed at the purchase price, but Walter and Boehly then negotiated a record $8.35-billion local television deal with Time Warner Cable. Sportico this year valued the Dodgers at $7.73 billion and estimated that they generated $1 billion in revenue last year, highlighted by the global economic boost they gained from signing Shohei Ohtani to a record $700-million contract.

The Dodgers also won the World Series last year, their second championship and fourth World Series appearance in the last eight years. In the 13 seasons since Walter and his group bought the Dodgers, the team has posted a winning record every year. In that same 13-season span, the Lakers have one championship, one NBA Finals appearance and six winning records.

After buying the Dodgers, Walter and Boehly explored buying AEG, the entertainment giant that owns the Kings and Crypto.com Arena. Walter subsequently bought the Sparks, invested in the Lakers and launched a professional women’s hockey league in which the championship trophy is called the Walter Cup.

If the Dodgers’ purchase is any indication, Walter might not make an immediate flurry of changes with the Lakers. After he bought the Dodgers, he retained general manager Ned Colletti through the 2014 season before replacing him with Andrew Friedman.

The beloved O'Malley family sold the Dodgers before the turn of the century, saying the economics of professional sports had exploded beyond the means of families with no other significant source of income.

Under Walter, the Dodgers have not only raised their payroll to record levels but invested heavily in areas that they believe help deliver a winner, from a vaunted analytics department to dietitians for their major and minor league players and expanded clubhouses with the latest in hydrotherapy. The owners also have invested more than $500 million into renovating Dodger Stadium, adding modern amenities to a 63-year-old ballpark.

The Lakers, whose minority owners include Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, are entering a critical moment in the franchise’s history. James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, has a $53-million player option that he needs to either accept or decline by June 29. If he declines, he’d be an unrestricted free agent.

The team also is trying to sign Luka Doncic, who it acquired in a shocking trade last February, to a massive contract extension functionally making him the future face of the franchise. He’s eligible to sign an extension on Aug. 2.

Times staff writer Jack Harris contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Buss family is entering an agreement to sell a majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers at a $10bn valuation, ESPN reported on Wednesday, marking the end of an era for one of the NBA’s most influential families.

Mark Walter, the CEO and chair of holding company TWG Global, is set to take the majority ownership under the agreement, ESPN’s NBA insider Shams Charania said in a post on X. Walter was already a minority owner in the Lakers and is also primary owner and chair of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.

Related: Thunder move one win from franchise’s first NBA title in 46 years after holding off Pacers

The Lakers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The late Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979 and turned it into one of the most popular and valuable franchises in all of professional sports, winning five championships during their now-iconic “Showtime” era in the 1980s.

His daughter, Jeanie Buss, took over as principal owner after Jerry Buss died in 2013, making her one of the most powerful women in sports. The modern-day Lakers have continued to attract big stars with mixed success, including recently with LeBron James, with whom the team won the 2020 NBA title. This year, the team swung a blockbuster trade for Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić.

Jeanie Buss will stay on as governor after the sale, Charania reported.