The White House is denying that President Donald Trump or his administration influenced the stunning sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, pushing back against a theory fueled by family connections, federal investigations and the transaction’s extraordinary speed.
“This has nothing to do with President Trump or his administration,” a White House spokesperson told Front Office Sports.
A spokesperson for Thrive Capital, the venture firm founded by Kushner, offered an even shorter denial: “This is false.”
The responses came after the Lakers’ abrupt ownership change generated questions well beyond basketball. Kushner is the younger brother of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a former senior White House adviser. Josh Kushner, however, has never served in the Trump administration and has described himself as a lifelong Democrat.
The theory presented to the White House was that the Trump administration encouraged the federal investigations surrounding Mark Walter’s business empire to pressure him into selling the Lakers to someone connected to the Trump family.
No evidence has emerged supporting that claim.
Joe Lacob Suspects There Is More to Lakers Sale
Even rival NBA owners were struggling to make sense of Walter’s rapid exit.
Golden State Warriors controlling owner Joe Lacob said he was “shocked” by the sale during an appearance on The TK Show, noting how unusual it was for Walter to surrender control so soon after completing his purchase.
“There’s something going on, and I’m just imagining, that we don’t know about yet,” Lacob said. “It’s just hard to believe you would close it — it was actually October of ’25 — and flip it. This isn’t like flipping a house.”
Lacob acknowledged that he had no direct knowledge of Walter’s reasoning. His reaction was not evidence of political involvement. It did, however, capture the disbelief surrounding a franchise changing controlling owners twice in less than a year.
“There must be more to it than that,” Lacob said.
Federal Scrutiny Hangs Over Mark Walter
GettyMark Walter sits courtside during a 118-116 Los Angeles Lakers win over the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena on November 05, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are examining $16 billion in loans involving Walter-controlled insurance companies and other entities connected to Walter or TWG Global, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Walter has not been charged with a crime. The Lakers are not accused of wrongdoing, and federal investigations do not necessarily produce charges or enforcement action.
A Bloomberg report said TWG had approached investors about raising money to help reduce loans held by its insurers. The Lakers sale reportedly could accelerate that effort, providing a financial explanation for why a $12.5 billion offer became difficult to refuse.
That does not establish that Walter was forced to sell.
Bob Iger Reveals How Buyers Found Opening
Getty Prospective Lakers owner and former Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2026, in Sun Valley, Idaho. Iger has addressed the Lakers sale in an exclusive interview with the California Post.
Iger supplied another intriguing detail in an exclusive California Post interview.
“We were involved in pursuing the new franchise in Vegas,” Iger said. “And while that happened, it was suggested to us that maybe Mark Walter would be interested in selling his stake in the Lakers.”
Iger said he and Kushner immediately pivoted. The agreement came together in three days.
Iger’s account confirms that he and Kushner learned Walter might be open to selling before the Lakers were publicly known to be available. He did not say who gave them that information, leaving one more unanswered question around a sale already filled with them.
For Lakers fans, the picture remains incomplete. Walter bought the franchise, spent less than a year in control and then accepted a record offer that materialized in three days. Lacob believes there is more to the story. The White House insists Trump is not part of it. Until more details emerge, those are the two competing realities surrounding the Lakers’ latest stunning ownership change.
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