Magic Johnson Reacts to $10 Billion Lakers News

The Los Angeles Lakers finished the 2024-25 season as the third seed in the Western Conference, tallying a 50-32 record. Unfortunately, they ended up getting eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs.

Now, the team is expected to make improvements this offseason, especially as they look to take advantage of LeBron James' remaining years in the NBA and the presence of Luka Doncic — whom L.A. acquired from the Dallas Mavericks in early February, just days before the trade deadline.

As the Lakers prepare for an important free agency and offseason, however, there are also major changes happening when it comes to ownership.

On Wednesday, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that the Buss family is selling a majority stake in the Lakers to Mark Walter at a $10 billion valuation, which makes it the "largest sale of a professional sports franchise in the world."

"BREAKING: The Buss family is entering an agreement to sell majority ownership of the Los Angeles Lakers to Mark Walter, the CEO and chairman of diversified holding company TWG Global, sources tell ESPN," Charania added. 

"Jeanie Buss will continue to serve in her role as Governor after the sale."

Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss at Crypto.com Arena.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

After hearing the news, Lakers legend Magic Johnson couldn't be more excited for the Buss family and the franchise.

Aside from expressing delight that his "business partner and friend" Mark Walter is taking over as the Lakers' majority owner, he also praised Jeanie Buss for "striking an incredible deal."

Johnson then proceeded to talk about the Lakers' valuation of $10 billion, relating it to the Boston Celtics' recent sale at a $6.1 billion valuation.

"Just like I thought, when the Celtics sold for $6B, I knew the Lakers were worth $10B!" Johnson shared while sharing ESPN's report about the sale.

In the most recent Forbes valuation, the Lakers were valued at $7.1 billion. Sure enough, the latest sale shows how much the team's value has increased in just a short amount of time.

It remains to be seen how this will affect how the Lakers operate moving forward. Nonetheless, with Johnson himself endorsing Walter and calling the new owner someone who is "driven by winning, excellence and doing everything the right way," it looks like the Purple and Gold faithful have a lot to look forward to.