The Los Angeles Lakers’ longtime owners have reportedly agreed to sell the team to another LA sports magnate in a deal estimated to be worth $10 billion.
ESPN’s NBA expert Shams Charania broke the news on Wednesday afternoon, revealing that the Buss family will sell its majority ownership stake in the Lakers to Mark Walter, the CEO of holding company TWG Global and primary owner of baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers.
Jeanie Buss, who became the team’s president after her father Jerry Buss’ death in 2013, will continue her role as the Lakers’ representative on the NBA’s Board of Governors, sources told ESPN.
Walter already has stakes in several of LA’s most prominent athletic organizations, like the Dodgers and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks, in addition to interests in tennis’ Billie Jean Cup, pro-racing’s Cadillac Formula 1 team and the Professional Women’s Hockey League.
The Buss family’s legacy has been intertwined with the Lakers since patriarch Jerry Buss bought the team in a 1979 deal which also included the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and the Los Angeles Forum arena in Inglewood, California.
HuffPost reached out to representatives for Walter and the Lakers for comment, but did not immediately hear back.