Adam Silver had no advance warning that Mark Walter was about to flip the Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA commissioner said as much on Thursday at Puck’s In The Arena conference in New York, where he was asked about the $12.5 billion deal that put Walter’s short ownership stint behind him and installed Josh Kushner and Bob Iger as the franchise’s new owners.

“My initial surprise went less to price and more that there was a reason to even sell the Lakers,” Silver told the conference.

“Obviously, I had a newspaper understanding of what Mark Walter was dealing with but I did not know that at this moment in time he was about to sell the team.”

The agreement was announced on 12 August 2026 and came together in a matter of days. The $12.5 billion valuation is a record for a North American sports franchise and sits $2.5 billion above the figure Walter paid when he bought the controlling stake from the Buss family. NBA governors only approved Walter’s purchase on 30 October 2025, meaning he was selling less than ten months after formally taking charge. The Buss family’s remaining shares were sold to Kushner and Iger as part of the same transaction, with Jeanie Buss retaining a leadership role.

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Walter under federal scrutiny

Walter has not publicly explained his decision to let go of the Lakers so quickly, but his wider business is under federal examination. Walter and his firm Guggenheim Partners are being looked at by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission on suspicion of insurance fraud.

Days after the Lakers deal was agreed, the Financial Times reported that Walter and his business partner Todd Boehly were in talks to offload their minority stake in Chelsea to Clearlake Capital, the Premier League club’s majority owner.

Doncic now leads a reshaped roster

The ownership change arrives at a transitional moment on the court. LeBron James left in July for a two-year contract with the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Lakers now run through Luka Doncic, who averaged 33.5 points per game last season.

Kushner, the co-founder of Thrive Capital and Oscar Health, is listed as the controlling shareholder of the incoming group and already holds a minority stake in the Miami Heat. Iger, the former Walt Disney CEO, joins him in the deal.

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The transaction still needs to clear a league vote. Any NBA ownership change requires at least 23 of the 30 governors to vote in favour, and the Lakers sale is not expected to be put to a vote at the current round of governors’ meetings.

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