{"id":41732,"date":"2026-08-12T22:15:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41732"},"modified":"2026-08-12T22:15:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T17:15:43","slug":"a-blockbuster-12-5b-deal-as-josh-kushner-and-bob-iger-buy-the-los-angeles-lakers-ap-source-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41732","title":{"rendered":"A blockbuster $12.5B deal as Josh Kushner and Bob Iger buy the Los Angeles Lakers, AP source says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/08\/12\/AP26224547809465_s1440x960.jpg?f72536d07237fdd262042ae8f5e6e6de3b865f3c\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>LOS ANGELES \u2014 The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/los-angeles-lakers\/\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> are being sold to businessmen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/josh-kushner\/\">Josh Kushner<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/bob-iger\/\">Bob Iger<\/a> for a record-breaking price, the second such sale in a year.<\/p>\n<p>This sale agreement is $12.5 billion, according to a person familiar with the terms who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because neither side revealed specific details.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN first reported that Kushner and Iger are buying the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/nba\/\">NBA\u2019s<\/a> most valuable franchise, which was valued last year at $10 billion when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/mark-walter\/\">Mark Walter<\/a> purchased a controlling stake from the Buss family. The two businessmen had been involved in trying to get an expansion team for Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>By buying the Lakers, Iger and Kushner simply don\u2019t have to wait for that decision. Expansion, if it happens, could take place in the 2028-29 season.<\/p>\n<p>The sale still will need approval from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/nba\/\">NBA\u2019s<\/a> board of governors, and that process can take several weeks. The next board meeting is set for next month in New York.<\/p>\n<p>The $12.5 billion price tag is not only record-setting for U.S. pro sports but it continues a trend of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/nba\/\">NBA<\/a> franchise values skyrocketing. Only three years ago, Michael Jordan sold his majority stake in the Charlotte Hornets for a $3 billion valuation, and the Boston Celtics were sold last year at a valuation of just over $6 billion, then a record.<\/p>\n<p>Walter\u2019s purchase of a controlling stake in the Lakers in June 2025 blew that away, and now Iger and Kushner have pushed the bar even higher.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Walter\u2019s purchase was approved by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/nba\/\">NBA<\/a> owners last October. He originally bought a 27% minority stake in the Lakers in 2021 before the 2025 sale. That was part of a franchise valuation of $10 billion &#8211; the highest ever set for a pro sports team.<\/p>\n<p>The Lakers have won 17 championships going back to the franchise\u2019s early years in Minneapolis, the second-most in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/nba\/\">NBA<\/a> history behind Boston\u2019s 18. It is a global brand, always at or near the top of the league\u2019s merchandise-sales rankings.<\/p>\n<p>This record sale price comes just weeks after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/topics\/lebron-james\/\">LeBron James<\/a>, the league\u2019s all-time leading scorer, left the Lakers after eight seasons to become a free agent. James ultimately decided to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers.<\/p>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u2022 <em>AP basketball writer Tim Reynolds contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"permission\" style=\"padding-top: 25px;\">\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 The Washington Times, LLC.\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES \u2014 The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold to businessmen Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for a record-breaking price, the second such sale in a year. This sale agreement is $12.5 billion, according to a person familiar with the terms who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because neither&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41733,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/08\/12\/AP26224547809465_c0-175-4200-2625_s1200x700.jpg?0c2ff189453be42a2a9ce3107a20b9190ecec9bb","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}