Bombshell $12bn L.A. Lakers sale could have dramatic Liverpool effect

Liverpool may end up feeling a massive effect on the back of a record-breaking sale of the Los Angeles Lakers.

The sporting world was truly shocked on Wednesday as it was announced that the Los Angeles Lakers were being sold. A group fronted by former Disney CEO Bog Igner and Josh Kushner are purchasing the most famous NBA team.

And they're not getting a bargain. This deal will reportedly set them back over $12bn, per ESPN, the biggest deal of any sports team in history.

It's an unbelievable development, if only because current owner Mark Walter purchased the team in 2025. He's essentially flipped them, earning $2bn in the process.

A crazy time, then, but what has this got to do with Liverpool? Well, we're going to connect some dots here so some patience is required.

But the NBA is expanding and a team in Las Vegas is essentially confirmed at this stage. There's a race on to own that franchise as it promises to be one of the more lucrative in the league.

And 'lucrative in the league' means incredibly lucrative - there's a reason the Lakers have been sold for $10bn one year and then $12bn the next, after all. Basketball teams, like nearly all American teams, carry no-risk wealthy as their lack of relegation essentially means they can't fail.

Just having a team means it's worth billions. Having one in a large market? That's going to be worth a staggering amount.

FSG, then, are interested in that Vegas team. Or at least, they were. The Athletic were among those reporting earlier this year that they'd looked into purchasing the team but ultimately opted against it - the price was too high at $8bn.

One very interested party in that team, and possibly the favourites to get it, was a group fronted by Bob Igner and Josh Kushner. That's per Bloomberg, who even provide a nice photo of the pair sitting with NBA commissioner Adam Silver.

Now, they're not buying both. The Kushner/Igner group are officially out of the running for the Vegas franchise, which removes a serious bidder.

So back to FSG. They didn't like the price of the team but that price just became a lot less competitive as a major competitor has now left the field.

On top of that, this is happening right at the same time that FSG are set to sell-off a third of Liverpool Football Club for an incredible amount of money. Probably around £1.5bn (The Times) - a sizeable chunk of cash that could, in theory, go towards purchasing an NBA team.

And that becomes a lot more possible if all of Liverpool were sold. It's easy to see, though, why a lump sum of £1.5bn could be used to guarantee a purchase of the Vegas team and that an entire sale of the Reds would essentially finance the thing.

As we say, there are dots being connected here that may not actually connect. But it is undeniably interesting that two enormous deals are happening at the same time, that also happen to have a connection to a third enormous sale.

Will this ultimately result in all of Liverpool being sold off? Very possibly. If people go down a certain path.