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The Los Angeles Lakers‘ record-setting $12.5 billion sale to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger reportedly came together in only about 72 hours. The timing of it all was really shocking, but investigative journalist Pablo Torre believes there was much more happening around the franchise than the sale itself.
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Mark Walter had bought the controlling stake from the Buss family in June 2025, when the Lakers were valued at $10 billion. Just 14 months later, Walter then handed the stake over, giving his investment group a potential $2.5 billion return.
But the money was not the only part that caught Torre’s attention. Speaking on the Breaking Points’ podcast, he pointed to two separate storylines involving Walter’s business interests, President Donald Trump and the group that ultimately took control of the Lakers.
The Lakers’ sale came at an unusual time for Walter
At first, Torre described the speed of the transaction as “frankly inexplicable.” Then he moved on to the tensions surrounding Walter’s business empire, TWG Global and other Guggenheim-related holdings, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Chelsea FC and Cadillac F1, where they’re facing debt-leverage issues tied to those assets.
Torre revealed that the complaint at the center of the matter was tied to the huge difference in reported revenue. These allegations are part of the ongoing federal investigation, which many believe was behind Walter’s decision to sell an asset like the Lakers.
The 23-year-old reported then brought in the Donald Trump connection, detailing that just days after these financial allegations surfaced in July, Walter went to the White House as the owner of the World Series-winning Dodgers. Torre noticed that Walter not only gave him a championship jersey, which is normal, but also gave Trump a World Series ring.
“The thing that I saw tracking… he gave Donald Trump, not just a jersey with his name on it, which is standard practice, he gives him a World Series ring… so you just have, in the context of all of this, at the highest level, the Trump administration and the power. Let’s just say it out loud. The power of the pardon, which is looming in the background around all of us.” Torre
He even asked other sports team owners whether they had seen a president receive a championship ring during a White House visit. But none of them could remember any instance, which led him to think the act was related to the Trump administration’s power to help him get pardoned.
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Kushner and Iger were looking for major investment in sports
On the other side of the deal, Kushner and Iger were eventually looking for a major entry into sports after their minority stake in the San Francisco Giants. They were even involved in an ambitious proposal tied to FIFA that would have created a new commercial entity around the Soccer World Cup.
According to Torre, that proposal eventually collapsed after significant opposition from European soccer heavyweights. With that opportunity gone and an NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas moving more slowly than expected, the Lakers came as a major open door.
Meanwhile, Torre shared that Walter was already dealing with a federal investigation – that is where the reporter believes the two separate stories eventually crossed paths.
“Mark Walter is like, ‘Okay, I’m dealing with a federal investigation in which billions of dollars of my money is now at stake.’ And in the middle of this Venn diagram emerges – the commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, and the Los Angeles Lakers.” Torre added. “And this happens over 72 hours, which is also an unprecedented timeline.”
The result of it all was a shocking deal that changed the ownership of the NBA’s most storied franchise, but the 72-hour timeline still sticks as a major talking point for Torre.
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This story was originally published August 16, 2026 at 12:07 PM.