A new era of Los Angeles Lakers basketball is set to begin as reports came out that the Buss family is selling a majority ownership stake to Mark Walter, who also owns the L.A. Dodgers.
Since Jeanie Buss took over as governor, she has made it clear that the family had no interest in selling the team their dad bought in 1979. There are a few understandable reasons why they appear to have changed course, with the main one being Walter offering to buy the team at a $10 billion valuation, which is the highest sale in the history of North American sports.
Even though Jeanie and the Buss family will no longer be majority owners, they will remain involved in the organization. In fact, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, the plan is for Jeanie to continue running the team moving forward:
Important to note. Jeanie Buss will not only remain the Lakers governor, but will continue to run the team for “at least a number of years,” according to sources with knowledge of the deal. In other words, it was guaranteed as part of the agreement that Jeanie Buss would remain…
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 18, 2025
In order for that to take place, the Buss family must maintain at least a 15% ownership stake in the team, per Dan Woike of the L.A. Times:
It's a $10 billion evaluation per my understanding. Also, for Jeanie Buss to remain an operating governor, she'd need to represent a group that owns at least 15 percent under league bylaws. https://t.co/GKmNAx13Eh
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) June 18, 2025
This type of arrangement typically has not worked out for past teams with Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks being the latest example. When he sold the team the plan was for him to continue running, although that quickly changed to the point where he had no say in the organization trading their superstar Luka Doncic to the Lakers. This is expected to be different, however:
This will be different than Cuban and the Mavericks sale. This is guaranteed, and has always been part of the set up since Walter brought the minority stake in 2021 and got first right of refusal. They’ve built a strong relationship over the last decade. https://t.co/u72bVUHw9k
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 18, 2025
Jeanie and Walter have had a working relationship since 2021 when the latter first bought his majority stake in the Lakers though, so perhaps that will continue without interruption despite the ownership change.
Magic Johnson discusses Lakers’ offseason needs
Lakers legend Magic Johnson still follows the team religiously and recently discussed what he feels are their biggest needs heading into the offseason.
“Rob Pelinka has gotta improve the roster,” Johnson said. “We need a big man and so hopefully we’ll be able to get a big man during this offseason. I think we must improve the bench as well, and so Rob will have a chance to do that as well. We gotta get faster. Right now, the Lakers are too slow and Minnesota really exposed the Lakers. When they had individual matchups, they went at Luka and they went at Austin Reaves, so they must improve the defense. If they don’t improve the defense, it’s no way the Lakers can win a championship.”
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