News of the sale of the Los Angeles Lakers to TWG Global CEO Mark Walter, who also owns the Los Angeles Dodgers, came as a big surprise to many. The Lakers have been owned by the Buss family since Dr. Jerry Buss bought the team in 1979 and has experienced unprecedented success ever since.
Walter does have a good track record from his time as owner of the Dodgers and reaction around the league on what this could do for the Lakers has been overwhelmingly positive. According to Tim Bontemps and Dave McMenamin of ESPN, one source believes this will allow the Lakers to be run like a business now:
“This is a good move,” one league source who has frequent interactions with the franchise said. “The Lakers can finally be run like a real business.”
Unlike most other owners throughout sports, the Lakers were the Buss’ family business which led to them running things differently than the rest of the league as they didn’t have the same level of spending power and resources. Because of this, another executive felt it was only a matter of time before they sold:
“It makes sense,” an executive said of the family’s decision to sell the controlling stake in the franchise. “With the way the league is going, I don’t think they could afford to be in this business. It just costs too much day-to-day.”’
Of course, with new ownership often comes a lot of changes in personnel throughout the franchise as everyone must be aligned on one accord. When Walter purchased the Dodgers, he didn’t immediately clean house, but did eventually hire Andrew Friedman to take over baseball operations and one has to wonder if that will be the case with the Lakers as well and who he could target:
“Who is their Andrew Friedman?” a league source asked. “Is it Bob [Myers]? Is it Masai [Ujiri]? Is it Sam Presti?”
While much of the focus will be on the roster and on-court product, some feel that this change in ownership will mostly be felt off the court, much in the same way as when Steve Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers:
“When Ballmer bought the Clippers, you’ve seen how he’s invested in the organization at every level,” another source said. “Has it won a championship? No, but they’re a great organization. They’re top five in the NBA in wins over the last 10 years and they’ve had a streak of making the playoffs when they never used to make them at all.
“The on-court is not where this is going to get the most impact. It’s going to be off court.”
And with Walter’s wealth, and track record of doing whatever it takes to win, this should bode well overall for the Lakers, and line up with superstar Luka Doncic as well:
“You always want the wealthiest owners, so that speaks for itself,” the source said. “And his track record speaks for itself. … [Doncic] wants to win. This owner’s proven that he wants to win. So this is a plus-plus.”
This will be a long process and who knows how it will all turn out, but there is a lot to be excited about with Walter becoming the new owner of the Lakers.
Lakers sale to Mark Walter could make extension in L.A. more appealing to Luka Doncic
This sale of the Lakers to Mark Walter does come at an interesting time as the franchise looks to lock down superstar Luka Doncic long-term. Doncic dealt with an ownership change while with the Dallas Mavericks that ultimately led to him being dealt to the Lakers, but this one seems unlikely to turn out the same way.
A recent report noted that Walter’s deep pockets, and his track record and results as owner of the Dodgers, makes signing an extension with the Lakers more appealing to Doncic.
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