LeBron James bolted Los Angeles for the 76ers, and if you were scratching your head then, just look at the Lakers right now: a mind-blowing $12.5 billion sale went down in August, barely a year after Mark Walter bought the team for $10 billion, and it’s already tearing the Buss family apart. This chaos makes James’s return back East look like a genius move.
Philly’s Loaded Squad vs. LA’s Implosion
When James announced he was leaving the Lakers, some of us wondered if he was losing it. The Lakers were a top-four seed in the stacked Western Conference in 2025, and they had Luka Doncic, one of the top four players on the planet. How do you leave that? The timing felt weird because it was hard to imagine James finding a better situation to win a championship.
But now? James is in Philadelphia, forming an absolute superteam. He’s alongside MVP-caliber stars like Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and fellow first-year Sixer Jaylen Brown. Plus, they’ve got serious depth pieces in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anfernee Simons on the roster. That starting five alone looks insane. It already looked smart for the King, but the scene in Los Angeles has gone completely sideways.
The $12.5 Billion Sale That’s Headed to Court
Mark Walter bought the Lakers for $10 billion in October 2025. Less than a year later, in August 2026, he flipped his stake for $12.5 billion to former Disney CEO Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner. This wasn’t just big, it was the biggest and most unexpected sale in sports history. Get this: the whole deal reportedly came together in just 72 hours.
But the drama doesn’t stop there. Iger and Kushner are now trying to buy the remaining 17.8% stake still held by the Buss family. And Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, daughter of longtime owner Jerry Buss, is fighting it hard. Five members of the Buss family voted in favor of selling that remaining stake, but Jeanie is the lone holdout. She’s invoking a 2017 court order that states a sale can’t be finalized without her consent. ESPN’s Ramona Shelbourne said on Sportscenter, “This will end up in court.” If that remaining stake sells, Jeanie Buss would no longer be governor, as the role requires at least a 15% stake in the team. Luka Doncic reportedly wants to ‘build something special’ with the new owners, but can he really with this kind of internal war going on?
LeBron’s exit from LA doesn’t just look smart now; it looks like a masterstroke. He dodged a bullet, planting himself on a contender while his old team spirals into an unprecedented ownership battle. Get ready for some serious courtroom drama alongside the basketball this season for the Lakers.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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