Ranking the 8 Most Expensive NBA Teams Ever Sold
According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the Los Angeles Lakers are being sold to Mark Walter, who is currently a minority owner of the team.
Charania later added that the franchise was sold with a valuation of $10 billion, making it the largest sale of a franchise in league history.
This is the second time this year that an iconic NBA franchise set a new record for the most expensive sports team ever sold. In March, a group led by Bill Chisholm reached an agreement to buy the Boston Celtics for $6.1 billion, according to Charania.
While the Lakers and Celtics are the priciest NBA teams ever sold, they're far from the first teams to be sold for multiple billions.
Here, we've highlighted the eight most expensive franchise sales in NBA history, as well as some that could soon join the list.
8. Los Angeles Clippers ($2 Billion in 2014)
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When you dive into the recent history of the NBA, it's shocking how many massive franchise price tags have already been nudged out of the top five.
In 2014, Steve Ballmer bought the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion. At the time, that figure seemed massive.
"The $2 billion price tag for the Clippers ranks among the richest ever for a North American professional sports franchise," ESPN reported in May 2014. "... The Clippers deal would be the most paid by far for an NBA team and follow the $550 million paid for the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this year."
Yes, Ballmer's deal nearly quadrupled the previous all-time high. And now, barely over a decade later, the Lakers are selling for a valuation five times higher than what Ballmer paid for their cross-town rivals.
7. Houston Rockets ($2.2 Billion in 2017)
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Just over three years after Ballmer acquired the Clippers, Tilman Fertitta paid $2.2 billion for the Houston Rockets.
At the time, the Rockets boasted perennial MVP candidate James Harden and were one of the only legitimate threats to the Golden State Warriors' dynasty.
But the price tag still raised some eyebrows, as it broke the record previously set by Ballmer and smashed a $1.65 billion valuation of the Rockets from earlier that year.
6. Brooklyn Nets ($2.35 Billion in 2019)
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Nearly a decade after Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov bought the then-New Jersey Nets, he sold them (along with the Barclays Center) to Joe Tsai in 2019 for $2.35 billion.
Since then, the now-Brooklyn Nets have been all the way through their Kevin Durant-and-Kyrie Irving era (which included stops from James Harden and Ben Simmons) and are now well on their way into an on-court rebuild.
5. Charlotte Hornets ($3 Billion in 2023)
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Arguably the best and most famous player in NBA history, Michael Jordan purchased a majority stake in his home-state Charlotte Hornets for $275 million back in 2010.
His notoriety and competitiveness made it seem like Jordan was a natural fit for the role. However, the Hornets only made the playoffs twice with Jordan at the helm. Their last playoff appearance was in 2016.
And yet, Rick Schnall and Gabe Plotkin still bought Jordan's stake in the franchise in 2023 at a valuation of $3 billion.
In the two years since then, the Hornets' on-court product hasn't improved much. However, LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and Mark Williams give the new governor an interesting young core to build around moving forward.
4. Dallas Mavericks ($3.5 Billion in 2023)
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Given his passion for the team, Mark Cuban selling the Dallas Mavericks to a group led by Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont in 2023 came as a big surprise to most NBA fans.
But considering that he paid $285 million for the team in 2000, a profit of roughly $3.2 billion was probably too tough to pass up.
In hindsight, following the new ownership group's horrendous trade of franchise cornerstone Luka Dončić, one can only wonder whether Cuban quietly wishes he had held on longer.
3. Phoenix Suns ($4 Billion in 2023)
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Prior to the Celtics sale, Mat Ishbia held the record for the most expensive purchase of an NBA team. He paid $4 billion to buy the Phoenix Suns from Robert Sarver in 2023.
In the two years since closing that deal, Ishbia has traded most of the team's draft assets. Devin Booker is the only player left from the Suns roster that went to the NBA Finals in 2021.
Those dramatic changes led to this year's most expensive team (including luxury tax), a sub-.500 record and little to no flexibility in the short-term future.
2. Boston Celtics ($6.1 billion in 2025)
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We got a new leader in the clubhouse earlier this year, and the situation Boston is quite a bit different from any of the above.
The Celtics were fresh off a title. They had one of the best rosters in the league locked up through next season. And Boston is arguably the most iconic franchise in the league (though the Lakers might have something to say about that, especially now).
The unfortunate truth about many recent franchise sales in the NBA is that the immediate aftermath isn't pretty.
But Chisholm and the Celtics are well positioned to break the trend.
1. Los Angeles Lakers ($10 Billion in 2025)
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And the same can be said for the Lakers and their new majority owner.
Thanks to February's earth-shattering acquisition of Luka Dončić, which cost far less than it would have had the Dallas Mavericks shopped him around the league, L.A. figures to be in the hunt for titles for the foreseeable future. And it still has assets to improve the roster around him this summer.
LeBron James won't play forever, but he's still on the team and one of the biggest draws in the league, too.
And if there's anything the league has taught us about player movement over the course of its history, it's that high-profile stars and high-end talents are often attracted to this organization.
Yes, this price tag may cause some sticker shock. It nearly doubled the Celtics price from just a few months ago. It's five times as much as what Ballmer paid for the Clippers.
But the Lakers will remain one of the NBA's marquee franchises for years (and probably decades) to come. And nothing suggests franchise values are going down any time soon.
Walter now has control of one of the most famous and marketable organizations in all of worldwide sports.
Potential Future Sales
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Everything from here on out is pure speculation. There are no clear indications that any of the league's other current teams could be changing hands soon. Sales often come as a bit of a surprise, as it was when Cuban sold the Mavericks.
But the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks both have recent valuations that would have broken the record Boston just set (if L.A. hadn't beaten them to it), assuming someone or group would be willing to match those numbers.
In the shorter term, expansion feels as likely as any one franchise being sold. The price tags for the Celtics and Lakers suggest the fee to bring a new team into the league could be north of $5 billion.
With current owners getting to split the expansion fee evenly, it might not be long before we see a new team in Las Vegas and/or the return of the Seattle SuperSonics.
