No one can say with any certainty how much success the Los Angeles Lakers will have in the coming years now that a majority share of the franchise will be sold by the Buss family to Mark Walter. Walter, the CEO of Guggenheim Partners, has been the primary owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2012, and under his leadership, the Dodgers have consistently enjoyed a high level of success that includes 11 National League West titles and two World Series championships.
If nothing else, it is projected that the Lakers will not spare any expenses when going after the best men and women to fill numerous roles within the organization. For years, they have been criticized for being run like a mom-and-pop small business that has consistently pinched pennies. That approach has worked against them, most notably when super sub and fan favorite Alex Caruso left in free agency in 2021 and Tyronn Lue turned down their offer to be their head coach in 2019.
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NBA reporter Brian Windhorst said that this new ownership is good news for the Lakers — and bad news for the rest of the league.
“If I were another team, I would not think this is a great development,” Windhorst said. “I think the Lakers are only gonna get more dangerous as an organization with the more resources that are theoretically here about to be poured into it.”
Historically, the Lakers have been a big draw for some of basketball’s greatest titans, including Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, and they have always seemingly been able to trade for a Hall of Famer just when it has seemed that they were down and out.
But now, presumably at least, money will not be an issue when looking to upgrade the roster or the rest of the organization.
How exactly this apparent influx of capital will translate to personnel moves remains to be seen, but one has to reasonably expect a positive development in that regard.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Brian Windhorst warns rest of NBA after sale of Lakers