ESPN Now Reports Lakers Did Notify LeBron James About Mark Walter Sale

NBA insiders Ramona Shelburne and Brian Windhorst of ESPN are now reporting that the Los Angeles Lakers notified LeBron James of the Mark Walter sale. 

Shelburne and Windhorst originally reported that the Lakers never told James about the sale. 

“When the Buss family agreed to sell a majority stake in the franchise to Mark Walter on June 18, Doncic was given a heads-up and notably posted a congratulations on social media afterward,” Shelburne and Windhorst wrote. “After the publication of this article, sources said James was notified of the sale, via his representation. But he did not post any public acknowledgement.”

The Buss family agreed to sell a majority stake in the Lakers to Walter on June 18 for $10 billion. Jeanie Buss will remain the governor of the team for at least the next five seasons.

James, 40, hasn’t requested a trade from the Lakers, but four teams contacted Rich Paul expressing interest in trading for the NBA legend. 

According to NBA insider Jovan Buha, James’ relationship with the Lakers’ front office is not “in the best place right now.”

“I wanna be careful with what I say about like Bron’s relationship with the front office or the organization, but I don’t think it’s in like the best place right now to be completely honest,” Buha said. “There’s been no official statement about LeBron opting in. There typically is, especially for a player of that magnitude.

“And then he’s had his stuff on social media or whatever he’s posted and there was obviously the statement when he opted in. So I don’t think things are in the best place they’ve ever been. I’ll just say that.”

James signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018 as an unrestricted free agent. The LeBron era in LA has been filled with ups and downs. 

Los Angeles missed the playoffs in 2019, won the championship in 2020, lost in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, missed the playoffs in 2022, lost in the conference finals in 2023 and lost in the first round of the 2024 and 2025 playoffs.