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Source Close to LeBron James Reveals Why New Lakers Owner Could Be 'Valuable Resource'

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 3:20 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise with the second-most (17) championships in NBA history, are embarking on a new era.

According to Shams Charania of ESPN, the Buss family is entering an agreement to sell majority ownership of the Lakers to Mark Walter for $10 billion.

Walter now owns the Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers.

After playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2014-15 to 2017-18, NBA icon LeBron James signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2018 as an unrestricted free agent.

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

James, the leading scorer in NBA history, has a player option for next season with the Lakers worth $52.6 million. It's unknown if James will pick up his player option or decline it to sign a new deal with Los Angeles.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, a source close to James suggested that Walter could be a valuable resource for the basketball legend as he pursues his post-playing career goal of owning an NBA franchise.

James, 40, has said many times that he wants to own an NBA team after he retires.

The Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of this year’s playoffs in five games. James, who averaged 25.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.8 blocks in the five-game series, suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee in Game 5.

James is the oldest active player in the NBA. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks for the Lakers this season in 70 games.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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