The Los Angeles Lakers have long been one of the premier franchises not only in the NBA, but in all of sports. The combination of on-court success, a long list of the game’s biggest stars of all-time playing for the franchise and the brand being recognizable around the globe has contributed to the Lakers being a truly iconic franchise.
The recent sale of the Lakers only further proved this point as the Buss family agreed to sell the franchise to Dodgers owner Mark Walter for $10 billion. And that valuation puts the Lakers just below the top of the valuable NBA franchises list.
Sportico recently revealed its most valuable NBA franchises list and the Lakers’ $10 billion valuation makes them the second-most valuable franchise in the NBA, trailing only the Golden State Warriors at $11.33 billion, via Lev Akabas:
.@Sportico's 2025 NBA franchise valuations are out
• @warriors are No. 1 at $11.33 billion
• "Get-in" price is up to $4 billion 💰
• Average is $5.5 billion, +20% YoY
• Average is +113% since 2022 🏀💵📈 pic.twitter.com/ldHLjZ5Ls4— Lev Akabas (@LevAkabas) October 16, 2025
Following the Warriors and Lakers is the New York Knicks at $9.85 billion and then there is a bit of drop-off to the the Los Angeles Clippers, who are fourth at $6.72 billion, and the Boston Celtics at $6.35 billion. The Brooklyn Nets ($6.22 billion), Chicago Bulls ($6.12 billion), Miami Heat ($6.03 billion), Philadelphia 76ers ($5.61 billion) and Houston Rockets ($5.53 billion) round out the top 10.
The teams at the top of the list shouldn’t be any surprise as the Warriors, Lakers and Knicks have been at the top of this list for years now and it makes sense considering the market that each team resides in and their immense popularity overall. In fact, the 76ers are the only team to move into the top 10 from last year’s list where they were 11th.
The Lakers moved up one spot from last year, surpassing the Knicks and with the money that Walter will be able to inject in the franchise, improving different areas of the Lakers as a whole, they could start moving closer to the Warriors to take over that top spot.
Jarred Vanderbilt says Lakers must ‘hold down the fort’ until LeBron James returns
As far as the on-court product for the Lakers, the team will be without one of its superstars for the start of the regular season as LeBron James deals with sciatica that will keep him out until at least mid-November. But Jarred Vanderbilt says the Lakers have to hold down the fort until he returns.
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