Wait… what just happened with the Lakers sale? $10 billion. That’s not a typo, people. That’s the actual number the Lakers just agreed to sell for, and it’s already flipping the NBA landscape upside down like a pancake. The Buss family era? Over. Mark Walter, the LA Dodgers owner with an empire-building habit, now holds the keys to the Purple and Gold kingdom. And guess who’s grinning ear to ear miles up north? The Golden State Warriors. Yup. Because somehow, Joe Lacob just won in a deal he wasn’t even part of.

Dan Patrick asked the question everyone was thinking: “Why a $3 billion difference?” After all, the Lakers were last valued at $7 billion. So then, Michael Ozanian, the valuation OG who’s been doing this since the 1980s, had the answer. “Time to get a new calculator,” he joked. Because when the Boston Celtics went for over $6 billion, the entire market got flipped. “The economics are almost completely brushed aside at this point.” Translation? Legacy franchises like the Lakers and Celtics are now in a different pricing universe altogether. And the new buyer, Mark Walter, didn’t blink.

Ozanian explained his logic: “I’m in LA. I’ve got the Dodgers. I’m building this huge sports platform. I may never get another chance to see a sports asset like this.” So yeah, he went all-in. But it’s not just about the number. It’s about what’s next.

Because while the Lakers now carry the biggest price tag in sports history, they’re still tenants in their own arena. “Anschutz owns that building,” Ozanian pointed out. “The Kings get the lion’s share.” In contrast? “Golden State controls its building’s economics. They own the building, get all the ancillary revenues, concerts, and all that stuff.” So while the Lakers made headlines, the Warriors quietly got validation.

Their setup, complete with the Chase Center’s glitzy real estate, is built for sustained financial dominance. And with Joe Lacob reportedly exploring a sale of a minority stake, this Lakers deal may have just boosted his bargaining power tenfold. And well, NBA executives and sports bankers weren’t ready for this.

“To a person, they all came back, and there were two things that said they said they knew nothing of this beforehand, they were completely surprised,” Ozanian further added on the podcast. The $10 billion figure had jaws on the floor. And one name kept surfacing as a collateral winner… Golden State. Why? Because value is no longer just about championships and jersey sales. It’s about infrastructure. And Lacob’s Warriors are playing a different game, rightly so. For the Lakers, though, this sale isn’t just about who owns the team.

Lakers Sale is wealth weaponized

It’s about who holds power. Rob Pelinka still has the GM badge. But for how long? ESPN’s Jovan Buha said, “Everyone’s starting with a blank slate.” Even JJ Redick, freshly installed, is under the spotlight with the supposed blank slate.

There’s Luka Doncic to build around. There’s a front office that must now match Walter’s championship ambitions. And then there’s the elephant in the room – UAE-backed capital. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst hinted at a $15 billion fund, $10 billion of which came from Mubadala Capital. “Two months after that fund was announced, the Lakers were sold.” Read into that what you will, but the dots sure are connected now.

As for Jeanie Buss? She didn’t disappear. She still has a 15% stake and remains the team’s governor. Brothers Joey and Jesse are still working in the front office. So technically, the Buss DNA still pulses through the franchise. But make no mistake, the baton has been passed, very expensively at that.

And the Celtics? Oh, they unknowingly set this all off. Their $6.1 billion sale became the measuring stick, and Magic Johnson summed it up best: “When the Celtics sold for $6B, I knew the Lakers were worth $10B.” Why do these people not just make the announcement of their predictions beforehand and let fans take a deep sigh of breath? Anyway, what’s next? For the Lakers, it’s a new era with new expectations. For the Warriors, it’s a moment of quiet triumph. And for everyone else in the NBA? Time to recheck your franchise calculator… because the game has changed, and the zeroes just keep piling up.