The Los Angeles Lakers are officially changing hands for a mind-blowing $12.5 billion, with Mark Walter and Josh Kushner finally locking down the terms of the sale. This isn’t just a big number, it’s a massive shift for one of the league’s biggest franchises, and it directly contradicts some pretty wild claims that floated around just hours before the deal was confirmed.
The Deal is Done, And It’s Massive
Sources close to the negotiations told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne that Lakers owner Mark Walter and Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner have agreed on all the outstanding terms. We’re talking a staggering $12.5 billion valuation. These two actually met in person on Thursday at Walter’s home in Florida to hammer out the transaction. They’re expected to sign the formal agreement super soon. This report got backed up by multiple others too, including Brad Turner from the LA Times and Benjamin Royer from the OC Register. Royer even had an unauthorized source confirm that Kushner and Walter locked down all remaining business on Thursday in Florida for that $12.5 billion deal. So yeah, Kushner clearly has the cash, or at least he convinced everyone he did.
Simmons’ “Scoop” Gets Brutally Shut Down
Now, here’s where it gets wild. Early on Friday, Bill Simmons, on his own podcast, floated this idea that “the Lakers guy” , meaning Josh Kushner , was struggling to find the money to complete the purchase from Mark Walter. Can you believe it? Less than 24 hours later, that “scoop” got absolutely annihilated. Reports from Ben Horney of Front Office Sports and Dan Woike of The Athletic came out early Friday refuting Simmons’ whole notion. And then Shelburne dropped the ultimate nail in the coffin Friday evening with her confirmed details about the finalized sale. It’s pretty clear which side to believe when you’ve got multiple sourced reporters saying one thing, and a lifelong Celtics fan with a history of Laker-hating putting out a totally different, unsubstantiated claim.
What happens next is the league reviewing the purchase to make everything official. It’s unclear how long that’ll take, but honestly, considering the league missed a whole federal investigation on Walter last year, you gotta figure they won’t drag their feet too much on this one. But hey, at least we’ve got plenty of new material to laugh at Simmons for, proving once again he just can’t be objective about the Lakers. Not even close.
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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