Over the summer, it was announced that the Buss family would be selling its majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter, with the deal yet to be finalized by the NBA. On Thursday, that final part of the process came to pass with a formal announcement from the league.
“The NBA Board of Governors has unanimously approved the sale of the majority interest in the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter,” reported NBA Communications on X, formerly Twitter.
“Mark Walter has a long association with our leagues, having served as a minority owner of the Lakers and as a principal owner of the WNBA’s Sparks for more than a decade,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “As Mark assumes his role as majority owner of the Lakers, I have no doubt that he will be a committed steward of the team and a great addition to our league given his many successful ventures in business and sports.”
Jeanie Buss will remain the Governor of the team for at least five years once the deal is completed.
“I also want to thank and congratulate Jeanie Buss and the Buss family for 46 years of transformational leadership and service,” Silver continued. “While this historic transaction transfers the Buss family’s majority interest in the Lakers, I am thrilled that Jeanie will remain the team’s governor and an active and engaged member of our league.”
Big news for the Lakers
For 46 years, the Lakers' brand was inseparable from the Buss family, pioneered by Dr. Jerry Buss, who purchased the team in 1979. The team has been far and away the most successful NBA franchise since then, ushering four separate championship eras over that span and continuing to draw in star talent year after year.
It's unlikely that that will change anytime soon even with the new ownership.
Meanwhile, the current Lakers are playing admirably without LeBron James and Luka Doncic in the lineup, having knocked off the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night thanks to an Austin Reaves game winner.
