This news came out yesterday and even full-time sports reporters seemed shocked. Apparently, the LA Lakers are being sold. Again. For decades, the Lakers franchise was owned by the Buss family, but the family sold the franchise to Mark Walter in the summer of 2025. Walter is now flipping the franchise (post-LeBron) with a big markup. That’s not all though – the new owners of the Lakers franchise are Bob Iger, the former Disney CEO, and Joshua Kushner. Of THAT Kushner family. Jared’s brother.

The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold. Again. Only 14 months after agreeing to purchase the Lakers at a record-setting $10 billion valuation, Mark Walter is selling the team to Bob Iger, the former Disney CEO, and Joshua Kushner. The deal would value the Lakers at $12.5 billion, according to a source with knowledge of the sale who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Kushner has a minority stake in the Miami Heat and is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.

The deal is a stunning development for one of the NBA’s marquee franchises, which was owned by Jerry Buss or his children for more than four decades before Walter’s short-lived stewardship.

“As lifelong NBA fans, we are deeply honored for the opportunity to become stewards of the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the most iconic sports franchises in the world,” Iger and Kushner said in a statement. “We have immense respect for the leadership and vision of Jerry and Jeanie Buss. Our long-term commitment is to build on that foundation, compete at the highest level, and serve this extraordinary team, its fans, and the city of Los Angeles.”

ESPN first reported the sale agreement Wednesday morning.

The Lakers’ $10 billion valuation in the 2025 sale was the most expensive in professional sports history. If Kushner and Iger’s purchase is approved by the league, it would set another record a little more than a year later.

For context, a private equity deal completed by the New York Yankees this week valued the MLB franchise at approximately $10 billion. Among NFL teams, only the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Rams were valued higher than $12.5 billion in a report released by Sportico this week, but those valuations are only estimates.

For Iger, 75, the purchase of the Lakers is a resounding answer to questions about what his public life after Disney would look like. Iger was succeeded by Josh D’Amaro as the company’s CEO in March. He remains a senior adviser and a board member, though those roles are set to end when his contract expires at the end of the year.

[From The NY Times]

Beyond the Kushner of it all, this is a strange post-Disney move for Bob Iger, right? To go from running Disney like the Navy to… buying one of the biggest NBA franchises, in partnership with a Kushner?? How are you going to get to 75 years old and not learn that you should never get into bed or business with a Kushner?

Anyway, do you think LeBron James got a heads-up about this sale and that’s why he left to play for Philadelphia? If LeBron didn’t know about the sale, he just has extremely good luck to not be involved with this mess.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.