Lakers Sold for Record $12.5 Billion: Kushner, Iger Deal Stuns NBA

The Los Angeles Lakers are changing hands again, and this time the number attached to the sale has stopped the sports business world in its tracks. Businessman Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger have agreed to acquire the storied NBA franchise at a $12.5 billion valuation, a figure that shatters the record for the largest sale price of any professional sports team in North American history. The seller is Mark Walter, the Los Angeles Dodgers owner who himself only took control of the Lakers a little over a year ago.

What makes this deal almost impossible to process is the timeline. Walter’s group closed on its purchase of the Buss family’s controlling stake at an approximately $10 billion valuation, with the NBA’s board of governors unanimously approving that transaction on Oct. 30, 2025. Less than a year later, the Lakers are being flipped for $2.5 billion more, a roughly 25 percent jump in value in under 12 months. The Lakers now hold both the number one and number two spots on the list of the most expensive sports franchise sales ever recorded, a distinction no other team in any sport can claim.

Why NBA Insiders Are Stunned

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne spoke with more than a dozen NBA executives and agents in the wake of the announcement, and the overwhelming reaction was disbelief, not just at the price tag but at the speed of it all. Kushner and Iger had reportedly been circling a potential expansion franchise in Las Vegas before pivoting to make an aggressive run at the Lakers instead, a plan that came together quickly enough to catch much of the league off guard. Kushner is expected to serve as controlling owner going forward, with Iger taking on a deeply involved leadership role. Jeanie Buss, whose family ran the organization for more than four decades before last year’s sale, is set to remain as the team’s governor for at least five years, a continuity clause that traces back to the original Walter agreement. The transaction still requires approval from the NBA’s board of governors, a process that can take several weeks, and neither the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks nor the Dodgers are said to be part of the deal.

The reaction from around the league underscores just how unprecedented this is. Franchise sales of this magnitude typically happen once a decade at most for a marquee team, not twice inside 14 months. Executives who spoke to ESPN pointed to the Lakers’ singular status in American sports as a brand that transcends the NBA itself, one of the few global sports properties that can justify a valuation now sitting well clear of every other team in the league.

What It Means for Bettors and the Market

Ownership upheaval of this scale inevitably filters into how the betting market views a franchise, even when the roster itself hasn’t changed. The Lakers enter the 2026-27 season as a team built around Luka Doncic, and championship futures have varied noticeably depending on the book, with lines on Los Angeles ranging from the high +2000s to as long as +5500 in recent postings, putting them well outside the handful of favorites currently topping most boards. A sale of this magnitude tends to raise questions in the market about front-office direction, spending appetite, and long-term roster-building philosophy under new stewardship, all factors bettors weigh when pricing a team’s futures over a multi-year window.

With Buss staying on as governor and the new ownership group publicly committing to build on the existing foundation rather than overhaul it, sportsbooks are unlikely to see this as a signal to immediately reprice the Lakers’ title odds. But the market rarely stays static around a franchise generating this much national attention, and any early moves from Kushner and Iger, whether on payroll, front-office hires, or public statements about championship expectations, will be watched closely by oddsmakers and bettors alike as the offseason progresses toward the board of governors’ vote.