Bob Iger and Josh Kushner have agreed to buy the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal reported at $12.5 billion, a price that would set a new high-water mark for U.S. professional sports teams and put NBA ownership rules back in the spotlight.
The sale, first reported by ESPN and confirmed by the Associated Press through a person familiar with the deal, is not final yet. The NBA Board of Governors still has to approve the transaction, and AP reported that process can take several weeks, with the next board meeting set for September in New York.
What changed
Iger, the former Walt Disney Company chief executive, and Kushner, the venture capitalist who founded Thrive Capital, said in a joint statement reported by AP that they were honored to become stewards of the Lakers and wanted to build on the Buss family's foundation.
The deal comes only a year after Mark Walter's ownership group agreed to buy a controlling stake in the Lakers at a valuation reported around $10 billion. If the new sale closes at $12.5 billion, it would push the Lakers above that already-record mark and well beyond recent benchmark sales such as the Charlotte Hornets and Boston Celtics.
That sequence is why this is more than a celebrity-buyer headline. The Lakers appear to be changing hands again after decades of Buss-family control, while the purchase price is moving faster than many fans would expect from ticket sales or local television money alone.
Why the number matters
The Lakers are not just another NBA team. They are a global entertainment property with championship history, celebrity visibility, Los Angeles market power and a brand that travels far beyond basketball. A $12.5 billion price would tell owners, investors and leagues that the most valuable clubs are being priced more like scarce media platforms than ordinary sports franchises.
That matters because franchise prices can shape everything from expansion fees to minority-stake deals, estate planning, debt decisions and the next wave of private-capital interest in sports. It also gives the NBA another public test of how it reviews buyers, financing and long-term control at a time when team valuations have been moving faster than many traditional revenue measures.
For fans, the immediate question is less about valuation math and more about governance. A deeper-pocketed or more media-connected ownership group can change expectations around arena experience, sponsorships, payroll appetite and the patience given to basketball leadership.
What happens next
The practical checkpoint is approval. Until the Board of Governors signs off, the agreement remains a pending sale rather than a completed handoff. Fans should also separate ownership control from basketball decisions: a sale does not automatically change the roster, coaching staff or front-office plan.
The timing still matters for the Lakers' direction. A new ownership group led by Iger and Kushner would inherit one of the league's most scrutinized brands, where off-court business expectations and on-court pressure tend to arrive together. The board process is the next signal to watch before the price tag becomes an ownership change.
