Good morning. It’s Thursday, August 13. Expect — get this — cooler than normal temperatures, with clouds in the morning and highs topping out in the low 80s for a sunny, mild afternoon across the county.
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1. Did an FBI raid lead to the Lakers getting flipped?
Jeanie Buss and Mark Walter attend a Lakers game at Crypto.com Arena in 2025. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
In 1979, a chemist on the USC faculty bought a basketball team, a hockey team, a sports arena, and a 13,000-acre ranch from their previous owner — who was in the midst of setting the Guinness World Record for history’s largest divorce settlement — for $67.5 million.
The chemist was Dr. Jerry Buss, and the basketball team was the Los Angeles Lakers. By the time Buss died in 2013, the Lakers alone were valued at $1 billion. Last year, the Buss family sold a majority share to a group led by Chicago businessman Mark Walter for $10 billion. And yesterday, ESPN broke the news that Walter was selling the team again — this time for $12.5 billion.
For most of us, the choice to make $2.5 billion in about a year would not require much additional explanation. But in Walter’s case, the sale of the Lakers to a Clippers fan and a Knicks fan’s friend’s husband has raised questions.
One particular question: does this have anything to do with the federal investigation into Walter and his sprawling business empire?
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