The Lakers sale is the latest in a string of recent high-profile NBA team transactions by and among Jewish businesspeople \u2014 including Mat Ishbia\u2019s purchase of the Phoenix Suns, Gabe Plotkin and Rick Schnall\u2019s purchase of the Charlotte Hornets from Michael Jordan and Mark Cuban\u2019s sale of the Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson.<\/p>\n
\t Kushner, who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors and was raised in an Orthodox home in Livingston, New Jersey, was at the center of a controversy in the world of professional soccer earlier this summer when his investment fund Thrive Eternal attempted to purchase a stake in FIFA\u2019s World Cup tournaments.<\/p>\n Under pressure from stakeholders from across the sport, who objected to the prospect of private ownership of the sport\u2019s preeminent contest, the global soccer body withdrew the privatization offer.<\/p>\n The Kushner family has donated millions of dollars to Jewish organizations in America and Israel, including the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, multiple West Bank settlement organizations, Chabad, the Ramaz School in Manhattan and Kehilath Jeshurun synagogue on the Upper West Side. The Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy in Livingston is named for his grandfather, who launched the family\u2019s real estate empire.<\/p>\n Kushner\u2019s father Charles serves as the United States Ambassador to France and Monaco.<\/p>\n Iger, 75, ended his second stint as CEO of Disney earlier this year. He and his wife, Willow Bay, are the owners of the professional women\u2019s soccer club Angel City FC. Iger was raised in a Jewish home.<\/p>\n Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel that launched the Gaza war, Iger sent a note to Disney\u2019s Jewish employees to \u201cexpress my shock and sadness.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know that many of you have loved ones in Israel, and I cannot imagine how terrifying the last few days have been seeing the brutality unfold,\u201d he wrote. \u201cMy heart goes out to the victims, their families, and all of the innocent people whose lives have been torn apart by this unspeakable violence. I speak for myself and for the entire company in condemning these attacks, the hate that motivated them, and all acts of terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tThe Lakers logo is displayed outside Crypto.com Arena, home of the NBA team, on August 12, 2026, in Los Angeles, California. (Mario Tama\/Getty Images\/AFP)<\/p>\n
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