LA Lakers Rumors Roundup: LeBron James considering NFL team purchase, NBA analyst believes Buss family could be tempted to sell their stake in the team, and more
LeBron James has hinted that he might consider purchasing an NFL team.
In other news, one prominent NBA analyst thinks the Buss family could soon be tempted to sell their stake in the LA Lakers.
On that note, here are the latest rumors surrounding the LA Lakers as of November 10, 2022
LeBron James considering NFL team purchase
LeBron James has often spoken about his desire to be an NBA owner in the future. In particular, he has made it known that he would be interested in a possible Las Vegas expansion franchise. However, James may have his sights set on purchasing a team from another sport as well.
Dan Woike of the "Los Angeles Times" reportedly asked James in a recent pregame press conference if his interest in NFL ownership has been undersold. Woike said that James said “possibly,” with a grin.
I asked LeBron James if we’ve maybe undersold interest in NFL ownership - “possibly” he said with a grin.
James reportedly has a net worth of $1 billion and is known to be a big football fan. So the possibility of him buying an NFL team makes sense. Additionally, James also has stakes in two soccer clubs, a pro stock car group and the Boston Red Sox. He recently bought a pickleball team as well. So his interest in ownership of sports teams is obviously legitimate.
It probably won’t be soon before LeBron James purchases his own major sports franchise. However, it looks like NBA fans can at least expect big plans from James post-retirement.
You may also like to read this: “I believe LBJ would give up playing to become an owner of an NBA franchise” – NBA analyst predicts roadmap for LeBron James to own an NBA franchise, compares his path with Michael Jordan owning Wizards
NBA analyst thinks the Buss family may be tempted to sell LA Lakers stake
The LA Lakers are off to a disappointing 2-9 start to the season and sit in 14th in the Western Conference. This has led many to question decisions made by their front office and ownership. As a result, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst thinks the Buss family could soon be tempted to sell their stake in the team. On "Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective" podcast, he said:
“I think it’s possible the Buss family could sell part of the Lakers at some point. You know they own two-thirds of the Lakers. I could see them selling part of the Lakers someday."
Windhorst added that the selling price of the Phoenix Suns could influence the Buss family’s stance on selling the Lakers:
“Let’s say the Suns sell for $3.5 billion. What do you think the Lakers would be worth in that environment? I mean, $5 to $6 billion. To be honest with you, if I were Jeanie Buss, I wouldn’t even accept a phone call to pitch me, even to buy a percentage of the team, for less than $6 billion."
Windhorst continued and explained the immediate financial benefits the Buss family would receive if they chose to sell the team:
“I’ve talked about this in the past, you have to understand, the Buss family owns two-thirds of the Lakers, 66.0-67.0%. There are six Buss children (as part of that ownership trust). That’s their core family business. They don’t have a Microsoft stock that pays them hundreds of millions, they don’t have a tech company.
“So let’s say the Lakers make $100 million, that means the Buss family gets $67 million of that, and now you split that six different ways, all of them have $10 million and change per year. That sounds like a lot, but when you think about ‘hey, maybe we could sell 10% of the team and get $600 million for it or something,' then all of a sudden all of them get $100 million."
It's all just speculation at this point, but Brian Windhorst is known to be one of the most well connected analysts in the league. So it will be interesting for Lakers fans to see if he is right.
Also read: Former NBA champion accuses Lakers management of a passive job assembling a championship team: “I'm sorry, that's malpractice, you can't do that”
LA Lakers waiting for a specific player to become available through trade
The Lakers are reportedly waiting for a specific player to become available before trading point guard Russell Westbrook and their future draft picks.
On "The Crossover NBA Show", Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated reported that the Lakers will not return to previous trade talks. This includes negotiations with the Brooklyn Nets involving Kyrie Irving and negotiations with the Indiana Pacers involving Myles Turner and Buddy Hield.
"In those discussions, when I brought up the Lakers, the pushback I was getting was they're waiting for a specific player," Beck said.
"That they're not doing the Pacer deal, that they won't do the Kyrie deal now that we for sure thought they would do a couple of months ago, is an indication that the Lakers are waiting for a bigger piece to come loose that they think they can trade Westbrook and the two future firsts for,” Beck continued.
At this point, it is unclear who the LA Lakers plan to target. After their 2-9 start it looks like they are starting to run out of time to turn their season around. If the Lakers don’t make a trade soon, it is likely they will have to wait until next season to start competing again.