Lakers President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka confirmed this week that the front office has already held “excellent” introductory meetings with the new primary owners, Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. This bit of news came during a press conference on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at the UCLA Health Training Center, where Pelinka spoke while coach JJ Redick listened in.
Another Sale, Another Round of Uncertainty
For the second Media Day in a row, the Lakers find themselves smack in the middle of a franchise sale, leaving a bunch of things up in the air. The team spent most of last year trying to “Dodgerize” the franchise, only for all that to get flipped upside down this past summer with yet another sale on the table. Pelinka was there again, facing the media with a sale pending and not a whole lot of answers he was willing to give.
“We have had introductory meetings with Bob [Iger] and Josh [Kushner] and those have been excellent,” Pelinka stated. He added, “With a pending transaction, we’re not at liberty to talk more about that under league rules. But we’ve had preliminary discussions with them that have been really, really positive. In terms of the day-to-day, nothing’s changed. We’re operating with Lakers excellence.”
Spinning the Narrative While the Sale Drags On
While Pelinka seemed open about those preliminary owner meetings, he was way too eager to use the pending sale as a shield. Any question about the front office, ownership, or pretty much anything else? “Pending sale, can’t talk about it.” The word is this whole thing won’t even be finalized for many more months. Last time around, before Walter’s sale was done, we got zero real insight, only guesses based on the Dodgers’ situation. So, yeah, we got a little peek into how things are going now, but let’s be real: would Pelinka have said anything different if those meetings went south? Probably not. He would have cited the pending sale again and kept it locked down.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Silver Screen and Roll.
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