ESPN Insider Reveals Jeanie Buss, Luka Doncic and LeBron James’ Reactions to Lakers’ $10 Billion sale to Mark Walter

Luka Doncic will have a lot more support from ownership as he enters his first full season as the Lakers' resident superstar.

ESPN Insider Reveals Jeanie Buss, Luka Doncic and LeBron James’ Reactions to Lakers’ $10 Billion sale to Mark Walter

Mark Walter, Luka Doncic (FS Image)

Mark Walter has had an extremely successful tenure as the LA Dodgers’ majority owner. His decision to buy the Lakers for the world record valuation of $10 billion has sent seismic waves across the sports world.

ESPN insider Dave McMenamin gathered intel from Lakers personnel before outlining what he learned in the wee hours of Wednesday night. Speaking on the network, he laid out what the salient reactions of the top people in the loop were. He started off with Lakers governor Jeanie Buss, who will continue in that role for the time being.

According to McMenamin, Buss consulted heavily with Celtics and Mavericks minority owners Mark Cuban and Wyc Grousbeck on how to learn from their recent sales of their majority stakes in their teams. He believes that Buss is better equipped to handle the aftermath of losing the final say in team matters having learned from their experiences – particularly that of Cuban, who has had to bear the fallout of the Luka Doncic trade.

Wyc Grousbeck and Cuban have been two of the closest confidantes Jeanie Buss has had in her time as the governor of the Lakers and you know the conversations have been shared. It’s kind of the case of getting out while getting out is good. And obviously what we should be watching out for is the way things went for Cuban on the back end of that sale. Maybe Jeanie Buss could’ve learned some lessons there and will get some things in writing in terms of her governorship moving forward with the team.

McMenamin was also quite clear that the sale of the Lakers would have little to no impact on LeBron James’ decision as an upcoming free agent this summer:

I’m told that this decision to sell the team has no bearing on his decision moving forwards is LeBron James. He still has his decision at the end of the month to decide whether to opt in for next year’s contract, worth about $56 million, or opt out and become a free agent. We’ve been given no indication thus far that LeBron won’t be a Laker next season.

Dave McMenamin spoke more expansively about Luka Doncic, LeBron James’ camps’ reaction to the Lakers’ sale

The ESPN insider had more to say about how the Lakers’ superstars reacted to the sale. Luka Doncic will be the face of the team and the NBA for the foreseeable future. Much like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, Doncic will usher in the new age of LA sports while at the peak of his powers.

LeBron James switched roles mid-season after Luka Doncic came in
LeBron James, Luka Doncic (FS Image)

Mark Walter needs to have a great equation with his franchise star, and it seems the first impressions are positive. However, McMenamin also emphasized that the salary cap would prove to be the ultimate equalizer. He believes that despite the CBA penalties, the Lakers will have a breezier time of not thinking about the spending on other important resources:

Speaking to people close to both Luka and Lebron James, there’s excitement about this move for what it means for this team. Obviously having someone like Walter doesn’t mean that suddenly the salary cap goes out of the window. There’s a new CBA in place that has punitive measures for teams that overspend. You lose draft picks. You can’t make trades to aggregate salaries…But what you can do is have extra spending towards your scouting department, you analytics department, your health and wellness staff, etc.

These are undoubtedly exciting times for the Lakers faithful, who will be looking to be back among the league’s top spenders after a couple of decades of not being in the luxury tax due to the Buss family’s relatively lower net worth compared to the other owners in the NBA.