The Los Angeles Lakers’ new majority owner, Mark Walter, is pretty accustomed to winning.
After buying the club from the Buss family this year at a massive $10 billion team valuation, Walter is already making serious personnel changes to the club’s front office infrastructure. When his ownership group took over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012, he acted similarly, altering and building out the Dodgers’ decision makers. They have since appeared in five World Series, winning three.
On Thursday, it was announced that Walter had fired Jesse and Joey Buss — still Lakers minority stakeholders — from their front office roles with the Lakers.
Now, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports that Walter is bringing some of that Dodgers magic to the Lakers. Los Angeles his hiring Dodgers executives Farhan Zaidi, a team special adviser, and Andrew Friedman, the club’s president of baseball operations, to serve as consultants. Per Shelburne, Zaidi will represent Walter as the new ownership group’s transition from the Buss era continues.
How do the Lakers start operating more like the Dodgers? They bring in Dodgers executives Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman to start consulting on the Dodgers way. Zaidi is serving as new owner Mark Walter’s representative from TWG Sports in the transition process, sources told…
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) November 21, 2025
Zaidi, who has a knack for analytics, has been serving as a special adviser to the Dodgers. He is also now working with the Los Angeles Sparks as a consultant.
Friedman has not been as involved as Zaidi thus far, and primarily works with current Lakers team president and general manager Rob Pelinka, who built LA’s 2019-20 championship roster.
The Lakers team sale was finalized on Oct. 29. Former LA team governor Jeanie Buss will remain in that role for at least the next half-decade, per reports.
This story will be updated…