The biggest story surrounding the Los Angeles Lakers as of late has been all of the uncertainty surrounding the ownership of the team. First came the shocking news that Mark Walter, who had barely owned the team for a year, had agreed to sell his majority shares to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a $12.5 billion valuation. And with some of Walter’s dealings under federal investigation, there have been plenty of questions about why he chose to sell.
This was followed by news of five of the six Buss siblings voting to sale their remaining minority shares to Iger and Kushner, with Jeanie Buss being the lone dissenter, which has led to an ongoing in-family legal battle. While not a primary topic of the NBA Board of Governors meetings, it was sure to be a question NBA Commissioner Adam Silver received from the media and he gave his thoughts on everything surrounding the Lakers, including how Walter was accepted to own the team a year ago.
“I will say at the time that we vetted Mark Walter to be the principal governor of the team; again, he was already a part owner, minority owner in the Los Angeles Lakers,” Silver said at his annual press conference. “We went through the full process we all do, we spoke to governmental agencies, we spoke to, in the case of Mark Walter, a heavily regulated insurance agency, we spoke to other leagues in which he has investments. We found no red flags.
“Again, even to this day, as you know, these are — call them allegations. There are issues that are now being looked into. Independent of Mark Walter choosing to sell his team right now, he was not being investigated by our league. I don’t know what’s happening in other leagues right now.”
Of course, Silver wouldn’t get too in-depth as the Board of Governors are more focused on potential expansion, local TV deals and NBA Europe. But it’s hard to ignore the drama and there remains so many unanswered questions surrounding the Lakers and Walter.
The Buss family drama is getting much of the attention as it impacts the franchise in a major way. If the family is able to sell their remaining shares then Jeanie will no longer be able to act as Lakers governor, which she is currently doing at these very meetings. But she is the only Buss sibling still working with the franchise so the rest don’t have those attachments and would prefer to cash out at the unbelievable valuation.
Soon enough, the focus for everyone will be back on the court as the season will get underway and that is something the NBA, Silver and the Lakers are all looking forward to.
Lakers sale not expected to be voted on at NBA Board of Governors meetings
There are plenty of topics that will be discussed during the NBA Board of Governors meetings, but the Lakers sale and voting on that is reportedly not on the docket.
That means it will be a while longer before Lakers ownership officially changes hands from Walter to Iger and Kushner.
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