The Los Angeles Lakers have had quite a summer. It started with losing arguably the greatest player in the history of the game, LeBron James, by letting him leave in free agency without making a firm offer to get him to stay. It moved, from there, to a history contract for previously undrafted free agent Austin Reaves. That then led to a complete revamping of the roster around Luka Doncic, a resetting of the franchise that might take some short-term pain but will, the Lakers hope, pay long-term dividends.
Oh, and now the team has been sold. Just a little more than a year after Dodgers owner and billionaire Mark Walter bought the Lakers for $10 billion, they’ve been sold–for $12.5 billion, to Josh Kushner and former Disney head Bob Iger. It’s a tidy profit for Walter, who was facing financial difficulty amid a federal investigation into his investment business.
It was also one of the biggest shocks in the NBA in recent memory.
Lakers Prepping for Yet More Changes
That has sent many in the organization scurrying after what had already been a turbulent time following the sale of the team from the Buss family to Walter, which saw dozens lose jobs even as Walter began to modernize LA’s front office with a bigger emphasis on scouting, development and analytics. It was a much-needed changeover from the mom-and-pop approach the Lakers had long taken under patriarch Jerry Buss and, now, Jeanie Buss, his daughter.
But there has been speculation that the Lakers, before all those offices have been established and given a chance to get running, will be dismantled yet again, with Iger and Kushner redirecting an org chart that had only just been established.
Bob Iger Already Sparked Chris Paul Speculation
There has been speculation, too, that general manager Rob Pelinka might not be long for the job, though that speculation dates back to before this latest sale. Iger is close with NBA veteran and former union president Chris Paul, and rumors have bubbled up that Paul will be involved with the Lakers–though it’s not clear how much of a decision-making role he would want or be given.
Iger, for his part, has sought to quell the wave of speculation.
Bob Iger: Lakers Deal Still ‘Very New’
As he told the California Post, the deal to buy the Lakers only came together recently, and there’s no way to tell what the arrival of Iger and Kushner will mean for, say, the scouting department or the analytics group.
“We’re fans,” Iger said. “We respect the value that’s been created, both on the court and off. Our intention is to build this great franchise from a position of strength in many respects as an organization. We’re smart enough to know what we know and what we don’t know. It’s just premature to speculate at all about what we plan to do, because frankly, we haven’t made any plans yet. Again, we go into this with an appreciation of who the Lakers are. And we just want to build value from today on. This is very new.”
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