Lakers to be sold in record-breaking US$10 billion deal: ESPN

Los Angeles Lakers executive vice president Jeanie Buss, left, watches with friends and family during a memorial for her late father and team owner Jerry Buss before an NBA basketball game between the Lakers and the Boston Celtics, Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013, in Los Angeles. Jerry Buss died Monday after a battle with cancer. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) (Mark J. Terrill/The Associated Press)

LOS ANGELES, U.S. — The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold in a record-breaking $10 billion deal that makes the iconic franchise the highest-valued sports team in US history, ESPN reported Wednesday.

The report said the Lakers owners, the Buss family, would sell their controlling interest in the team to billionaire Mark Walter, who already owns a stake in the franchise.

While Jeanie Buss would continue as Lakers governor, the deal ends the Buss family’s 47-year reign over the NBA giants.

Walter is the chief executive of holding company TWG Global which has built an impressive portfolio of professional sports teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Sparks.

TWG also owns the Billie Jean King Cup tennis tournament and the Cadillac Formula One team.

While further specifics of the deal were not disclosed, Lakers legend Magic Johnson -- a business partner of Walter -- was among the first to react to news of the agreement.

“Laker fans should be ecstatic,” Johnson wrote on X. “A few things I can tell you about Mark - he is driven by winning, excellence, and doing everything the right way. And he will put in the resources needed to win! I can understand why Jeanie sold the team to Mark Walter because they are just alike.”

Johnson cited Walter’s ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team as a reason for optimism. The Dodgers have won the World Series twice since Walter’s ownership group took the club over.

“Mark is the best choice and will be the best caretaker of the Laker brand,” Johnson wrote. “The proof is in the pudding on what he’s been able to accomplish with the LA Dodgers. Mark has been nothing short of a winner.”

The end of the Buss family’s control of the Lakers marks the end of an era in the NBA.

The team were bought by charismatic tycoon Jerry Buss in 1979, who quickly helped turn the franchise into a sporting powerhouse as well as a globally recognised brand.

The Buss era brought the Lakers 11 NBA championships -- more than any other team over the same period -- and encompassed golden ages which included the “Showtime” Lakers of Magic Johnson as well as a hat-trick of championships between 2000-2002 when the team was spearheaded by Kobe Bryant.

Walter has been a minority owner of the Lakers since 2021 when he bought a share of the team in a deal which also gave him first refusal to buy the club should the Buss family ever decide to sell.

The sale of the club smashes the previous highest figure paid for a US sports team, the $6.1 billion paid for the Boston Celtics earlier this year.

That Celtics sale eclipsed the $6.05 billion that Josh Harris paid for the Washington Commanders in 2023.