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The NBA team Mark Walter tried to buy before record $10bn agreement with the LA Lakers

Originally posted on NBA Analysis Network | By Dan Coombs | Last updated Jun 19, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers are entering a new era after a record sale of the franchise was agreed in principle.

The LA Lakers are on the verge of closing a staggering sale to new owners. Mark Walter and the TWG Group have agreed a $10 billion deal with the Buss family.

TWG were already minority owners and had first refusal if the Buss family chose to sell. Now that significant time has arrived.

The Buss family have owned the Lakers since 1979, and Jeanie Buss is set to stay on as governor.

Mark Walter’s buyout has been welcomed by team legend Magic Johnson, who backs the new owner to take the franchise to a new level.

Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images

Mark Walter tried to buy the LA Clippers

Mark Walter is the majority owner of the LA Dodgers, and has been a minority owner in the LA Lakers since 2021.

But if he had his way, he would already have been an investor in the Lakers’ city rivals the LA Clippers.

Walter was part of a consortium that bid for the LA Clippers back in 2014, led by media mogul David Geffen.

Reuters reported at the time: “Geffen’s group also includes Guggenheim Partners CEO Mark Walter and President Todd Boehly.”

The bid was approximately $1.5 billion. The team was eventually sold to current Clippers owner Steve Ballmer for around $2 billion.

This came two years after Walter’s Guggenheim Baseball Management bought MLB team the LA Dodgers in 2012 for $2.15 billion.

Under Mark Walter’s guidance, the LA Dodgers have won two MLB titles, in 2020 and most recently in 2024.

Their 2020 success ended a 32-year drought, with their previous title coming back in 1988.

The LA Lakers won the title most recently in 2020, and finished as the third seed in the 2024/25 season, but fell in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

This article first appeared on NBA Analysis Network and was syndicated with permission.

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