How Lakers Compare to Cowboys, Knicks and Most Valuable Sports Teams After Historic $12B Sale

The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold for $12.5 billion to businessman Josh Kushner and former Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger, ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported Wednesday.

That sale, if finalized, would make the Lakers the NBA's most valuable franchise. CNBC dropped its list of NBA franchise valuations back in February, and the Golden State Warriors topped the list at $10.8 billion. The Lakers were second ($10.1 billion), and the New York Knicks were third ($10 billion).

Sportico also dropped its list of the latest NFL franchise valuations earlier Wednesday before the Laker news broke. Only two teams (the Dallas Cowboys at $15.5 billion and the Los Angeles Rams at $12.7 billion) surpass the Lakers' reported sale price.

According to Shelburne, Kushner and Iger were involved in trying to bring an NBA expansion team to Las Vegas. They ultimately pivoted and bought the Lakers from Walter.

In June 2025, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that Walter, who is Guggenheim Partners' CEO, entered into an agreement with the Buss family to buy their controlling interest in the franchise for a franchise valuation of approximately $10 billion.

That franchise evaluation has now shot up drastically in a little over a year.

The Lakers had been under the Buss banner since 1979, when Dr. Jerry Buss bought them, the NHL's Los Angeles Kings, the Great Western Forum and a 13,000-acre ranch in the Sierra Nevada mountains for $67.5 million.

Things have changed a bit since then, and now the Lakers have developed into the third-most valuable franchise in worldwide sports.