The sports world was stunned on Wednesday when out of nowhere the Los Angeles Lakers were sold for $12.5 billion.
Mark Walter transferred controlling interest of the team to a new ownership group consisting of billionaire private equity heir Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger. It’s the largest sale price for an American professional sports franchise since… Walter bought the Lakers less than two years ago at a valuation of $10 billion.
A neat and tidy $2.5 billion profit in just over a year deserves a spot in the Flip It or Flop It Hall ofFfame. But the suddenness of the deal and the people involved has also drawn plenty of skepticism as to whether or not there is more to the story that meets the eye.
And that’s where legendary Los Angeles sports columnist Bill Plaschke sits.
In a column about the move at the Los Angeles Times, Plaschke flat out writes that “something stinks” regarding the hasty ownership transition.
This doesn’t feel good. This doesn’t feel right. Something stinks here, and it might just be the future of a franchise that once seemed in such good hands. On Tuesday it was stunningly and ingloriously fumbled, and for what? There are two main unknowns here, and both should send shivers through a Laker fan base that could be watching their team become the Portland Trail Blazers. First, why did Mark Walter sell just 10 months after buying? Yes, he made a $2.5 billion profit, but 10 months? Who owns a major sports franchise for just 10 months? Second, what sort of owners will Bob Iger and Josh Kushner be? Iger is known for running Disney, and Kushner is known for running with President Trump’s son-in-law, who happens to be Kushner’s brother Jared.
Plaschke offered up some of the elements of the sale that have drawn suspicion in the hours since the news broke.
Walter made the decision to sell in the wake of a federal investigation over illegal loans. And the fact that he sold the team to the billionaire venture capitalist who just so happens to be the brother of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law gives the appearance that the two could be related. Of course, that has been denied by the White House, but this is Donald Trump’s America. And if there’s anything we know about Donald Trump’s America, it’s that political influence will be wielded, especially when there is money to be made for those aligned with the president.
Also, this just so happened to come just days after Josh Kushner was at the front of Gianni Infantino’s plans to privatize the World Cup after hobnobbing around America with Trump. That plan was soundly defeated by soccer administrators around the world and now Infantino’s FIFA presidency is hanging by a thread. And now a $12 billion deal for the Lakers has come together in less than a week? It’s unprecedented.
Could Walter sell the Lakers to a member of Trump’s extended family and business partner to ease a federal investigation? Instead of answering that question, consider that Walter was just at the White House as owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, presenting the president with his own World Series ring in an incredible example of sycophancy.
The entire situation has even left Pablo Torre of all people speechless.
So……. the Mark Walter federal investigation colliding with Gianni Infantino’s preferred private-equity backers is………… a lot. https://t.co/93HJD2ctEu — Pablo Torre 👀 (@PabloTorre) August 12, 2026
As for the future of the Lakers, questions also remain as Bill Plaschke also pointed out. In spite of the circumstances of his exit, Walter has been by all accounts a stellar owner of the Lakers and Dodgers. The Lakers are set for a new era with Luka Doncic and J.J. Redick and the Dodgers have built a superteam worth billions while racking up titles.
But Josh Kushner and Bob Iger? Neither have experience in this role, in this spotlight, as owners of a professional sports team. Yes, they’ve been successful in business and entertainment respectively. But owning the Lakers is a brand new ballgame. And if the new ownership stumbles out of the gate, even more questions will arise as to why and how the sale happened in the first place.
Source: Awful Announcing
