The Los Angeles Lakers laid off more than a dozen employees on the business side on Wednesday, marking one of the first major organizational moves under new owner Mark Walter.

According to ESPN, the cuts affected multiple departments, including marketing, team communications, team content and corporate partnerships. The reported reason was organizational restructuring, but the decision created what Dan Woike described as a “brutal” day inside the Lakers’ facility.

That reality clashes with Walter’s public reputation. The billionaire owner became known in Los Angeles for aggressively spending to turn the Dodgers into a powerhouse, highlighted by blockbuster moves like Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million contract and consecutive championship runs. But Walter’s success with the Dodgers has also come with sweeping organizational changes behind the scenes, and the Lakers now appear headed down a similar path. Longtime employees could ultimately be replaced by personnel aligned with Walter’s vision as he reshapes the franchise both on and off the court.

For Walter, building a contender is not only about spending money. It is also about restructuring the organization to match his standards for sustained success.

This isn’t his first order of business with the Lakers either. The team recently hired Rohan Ramadas as an assistant general manager to oversee the analytical side of things. Pelinka expects another assistant general manager to join the team, who will be more involved with personnel management. Mark Walter probably recognizes the model.

Luka Doncic is not far from being an Ohtani-level talent in the NBA. These are players who accelerate a franchise’s timeline. And the Lakers, due to only modest moves, have failed to secure a title since 2020.

Mark Walter brings a bold energy, much needed to break free from the comfort of being under the Buss family for 50 years. There are no punches to dodge. Walter will ensure the Lakers have a top team, even behind the scenes, to assist the team’s championship hopes.

An X user, Cranjis McBasketball, who hosts a Lakers-focused podcast, suggested the layoffs could be part of a broader restructuring and streamlining effort. If that is the case, Walter’s goal may be to simplify internal operations and create clearer communication channels across departments.

While reducing staff can improve efficiency, it also leaves fewer people handling day-to-day responsibilities, making the human impact of the decision difficult to ignore. For now, the Lakers have not fully clarified the long-term purpose behind the cuts, but the early signs point to Walter making significant organizational changes shortly after taking control.

For a franchise as image-conscious and legacy-driven as the Lakers, the challenge now is to ensure modernization does not come at the expense of stability, especially as they try to remain a championship contender both on and off the court.

At the same time, there is little indication that the new owner is unwilling to spend. General manager Rob Pelinka recently discussed plans for upgraded player facilities, including expanded recovery resources and improved analytics infrastructure designed to modernize the franchise’s operations.

Lakers layoffs are not the same as the Portland Trail Blazers

The Los Angeles Lakers aren’t the first team to restructure their organization. Tom Dundon, the Portland Trail Blazers’ owner, was the first to reportedly lay off 70 employees during the process.

However, the aims were quite different. With Portland, it was all about eliminating unnecessary jobs to save on costs. He drew inspiration from his NHL team, the Hurricanes. They reportedly spent $100 million less on operations than the Trail Blazers.

Dundon explained his perspective recently.

“People are happier when they’re busy and productive. And more people just creates more problems, usually. I think Portland just had too many people. I just asked them to look at it and I think they came to the same conclusion. We didn’t run a budget or give them a goal of headcount,” he said.

The timing of the Lakers’ restructuring appears tied directly to the franchise’s transition into the Mark Walter ownership era. After decades of operating under the Buss family’s relatively lean organizational model, the new leadership has signaled a shift toward a more corporate, analytics-driven structure similar to the Dodgers’ modern sports-business approach.

Reports over the past several months have highlighted plans to expand scouting, analytics, player development, marketing and international revenue operations, suggesting that Walter’s group viewed parts of the inherited business setup as outdated or inefficient for the NBA’s increasingly competitive landscape.

The layoffs, while abrupt, still show an attempt to consolidate departments and rebuild the franchise with a more centralized long-term strategy rather than simply cutting costs.

There’s something similar between him and Walter still. The focus is to reposition the business side of the organization. When it comes to basketball and giving the players greater resources, Dundon doesn’t have any spending limits.

That being said, he also prevented the Blazers’ two-way players from travelling to the playoffs, a decision he later came to regret. Portland’s also reportedly looking for an affordable head coach option, possibly moving off Tiago Splitter.