The Los Angeles Lakers have been in the news lately for off-the-court reasons as Mark Walter shocked the world when he decided to sell the team to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner just one year after buying it from the Buss family.
Then, news came out that the Buss family wants to sell its remaining 17.8% stake to Iger and Kushner, but Jeanie Buss is trying to fight that as she wants to remain governor moving forward but can’t without ownership stake.
All of this can certainly be a distraction as the Lakers begin their preparation for the 2026-27 season, but one former franchise great does not believe that will be the case.
“You know what’s funny? Players don’t really care about that,” Robert Horry told Lakers Nation at the 26th annual Harold & Carole Pump Foundation celebrity dinner. “As long as their paycheck cashes and they’re able to compete, because they figure at the end of the day, whatever we do on the court solves all the problems elsewhere. And I think a lot of times, we get caught up in, even though management is very important in getting the right people at the right time, but at the end of the day, you gotta go out there and compete.
“I think players, as long as it gets handled, my paycheck gets cashed and the fans come out and support, that’s the most important thing.”
Horry certainly knows a lot about drowning out noise and focusing on winning as he won seven championships during his 16-year NBA career and was a major contributor in all of them. That includes three rings with the Lakers, who were owned by the Buss family at the time.
As the Lakers enter this new era, they are lucky to have Luka Doncic as their superstar and leader on the court. He has dealt with a lot of turmoil in recent years now playing for his fifth owner, so this is nothing he isn’t used to dealing with. While it may be a challenge for other players, they can lean on Doncic and the team’s coaching staff to remain focused on the task at hand, which is getting back into championship contention as quickly as possible.
Luka Doncic has already spoken with new Lakers owners
According to reports, Doncic has already reached out and spoken with the new Lakers owners and plans to meet with them soon. That should help with the transition as Iger and Kushner have never been majority owners of an NBA team.
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