So apparently, the Buss family is selling the majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter, the guy behind TWG Global, which apparently owns a bunch of other big-name sports teams too—like the Dodgers, Chelsea FC, and even some F1 teams. Jeanie Buss is staying on as Governor for now, but a lot of people are already speculating how long that’ll actually last. Some folks are comparing this to when Mark Cuban sold the Mavericks and how he ended up having basically zero say afterward, so there’s a general feeling that Jeanie might be in a similar boat—just a placeholder until the new owners get their ducks in a row.
The big story here is the sheer scale of the sale. People are throwing around numbers like $10 billion, which would make this one of the biggest sports franchise sales ever. The Celtics sold for $6.1 billion earlier this year, so if the Lakers really went for $10B, that’s just bonkers. Jerry Buss bought the team back in 1979 for $67.5 million, which even adjusted for inflation is only about $300 million today—so the return on investment here is just absurd. Some people even brought up George Steinbrenner buying the Yankees for $10 million back in the ‘70s or Halas buying the Bears for $100, but this Lakers deal might top them all when you factor in the championships and global brand recognition.
A lot of the comments were focused on what this means for the Lakers as a team. Some people are excited because the new ownership group—TWG—has a reputation for running teams really well, especially the Dodgers. So the idea of the Lakers finally having deep-pocketed, competent owners is kind of a big deal. There’s a lot of talk about how the Lakers might start spending more aggressively, maybe even bring in some top-tier executives from other successful franchises. One person joked that maybe Andrew Friedman (the Dodgers’ big brain) might come in and revolutionize the front office. Others were cracking jokes about Luka Dončić getting a massive contract or even joining F1 somehow, since TWG owns a bunch of racing teams too. That part got a lot of laughs, especially imagining Luka trying to fit into an F1 car.
There’s also a bit of nostalgia mixed in. The Buss family has owned the Lakers for over 40 years, so this really does feel like the end of an era. Some people were even sentimental about it, saying they’ll miss the family-run vibe, even if it wasn’t always the most successful. Others weren’t so kind, pointing out that the Buss kids—especially Jim—made some questionable decisions over the years, like overpaying for players like Deng and Mozgov. So there’s definitely a split between people who are sad to see the family go and those who think this is a long-overdue shakeup.
And of course, there’s the bigger-picture angle. A lot of commenters were talking about how this feels like part of a larger trend—sports teams getting bought up by massive conglomerates instead of staying with families or local owners. The same group that owns the Lakers also owns teams in baseball, soccer, and motorsports, so people are joking about how we’re heading into this world where one company owns half the leagues. Some called it “end-stage capitalism,” others just found it funny how interconnected everything’s getting.
Overall, the mood is a mix of excitement, nostalgia, and a little bit of cynicism. People are curious to see how this plays out—whether Jeanie Buss stays on, how the team’s management changes, and if the Lakers become even more dominant now that they’ve got deep-pocketed owners who know what they’re doing. And of course, there’s always the humor—like imagining Luka in an F1 car or LeBron showing up at a NASCAR race. It’s definitely a big moment for the NBA and for sports in general.
