The Board of Governors of the US National Basketball Association (NBA) has approved the record sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to businessman Mark Walter, the league announced on Thursday.
The transaction is expected to be finalised soon, the NBA said in a press release on Thursday.
The Lakers, home to stars like LeBron James and Luka Doncic, will be sold for approximately $10 billion setting a record for the league, ESPN reported in June,
The Buss family, which has owned the Lakers since 1979, agreed to sell the team. Current team president Jeanie Buss will remain in her role for five more years as part of the deal.
Mark Walter already held a minority stake in the Lakers. He is the CEO of TWG Global, an investment firm that owns several professional sports teams, including Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, currently playing in the World Series, and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
TWG Global also has interests in the Billie Jean King Cup, Cadillac’s soon-to-enter Formula 1 team, and a minority stake in Premier League football club Chelsea.
When Jerry Buss purchased the Lakers in 1979 for $67.5 million, he transformed the team into one of the NBA’s most iconic franchises, signing legendary players such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. The team has won 11 of its 17 total championships under Buss ownership, the most recent in 2020.
This announcement follows the sale of another historic NBA franchise, the Boston Celtics, which was approved by team owners just over two months ago. The Celtics were sold to Bill Chisholm for $6.1 billion.
