There is an old human story in Bob Iger's purchase of a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers — the story of identity bending under the quiet pressure of circumstance and capital. The man who once sat in cheaper Clippers seats, insisting his Knicks loyalty ran too deep for a Lakers conversion, now holds equity in the very franchise he said he couldn't bring himself to support. The $12.5 billion sale, arriving just fourteen months after Mark Walter's own acquisition, suggests that even the most storied institutions move at the speed of money — and that the allegiances we declare in public are rarely
Lakers buyer Iger once said rooting for team 'not in my DNA'
It just was not in my DNA—until it was worth $12.5 billion
Mark
So Iger spent decades saying he couldn't root for the Lakers, and now he owns part of them. Is this just a funny contradiction, or does it say something deeper?
Mimi
It's both. On the surface, it's the kind of irony that makes for a good headline. But underneath, it reveals how ownership changes the relationship to a thing. You can root for a team from the stands. Owning it is different—it's not about fandom anymore, it's about stewardship and investment.
Mark
He chose the Clippers because tickets were cheaper. Does that detail matter, or is it just a punchline?
Mimi
It matters because it shows Iger wasn't being sentimental about his choice. He was being practical. He moved to LA, needed a basketball team to follow, and made the economical choice. Now he's in a position where economics work differently. He can afford the Lakers.
Mark
What about Mark Walter selling so fast? He bought for $10 billion in June 2025 and sold for $12.5 billion just 14 months later. That's not normal.
Mimi
No, it's not. A $2.5 billion gain in 14 months on a sports franchise is extraordinary. The federal scrutiny of his private-credit business is the elephant in the room—nobody's saying it forced the sale, but the timing is suspicious enough that people are asking.
Mark
Do you think Iger knew about Walter's troubles when he came in as a buyer?
Mimi
That's unknowable from the outside. What we know is that Iger had the resources and the willingness to step in. Whether he saw an opportunity or was brought in to help stabilize the situation, we can't say.
Mark
Does Iger's old DNA comment haunt him now, or is it just forgotten?
Mimi
It haunts him in the way old quotes haunt everyone in the internet age. But for him personally? Probably not. He's moved on. The question is whether Lakers fans will let him.
Il Polso
- A resurfaced 2021 podcast clip exposed the irony at the heart of the deal: Iger once said rooting for the Lakers was simply 'not in his DNA,' yet he is now a part-owner of the franchise.
- The $12.5 billion price tag — $2.5 billion more than what Mark Walter paid just fourteen months ago — signals how rapidly elite sports assets are appreciating, compressing timelines that once stretched across decades.
- Walter's business empire is under federal scrutiny for private-credit investments, and while no evidence ties the investigation to the sale, the speed of the turnaround has left observers asking what changed so quickly.
- Iger and Josh Kushner have joined the ownership group, completing a transaction that reframes Iger's public identity from lifelong Knicks loyalist and budget-seat Clippers fan to co-owner of the NBA's most glamorous franchise.
There is an old human story in Bob Iger's purchase of a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers — the story of identity bending under the quiet pressure of circumstance and capital. The man who once sat in cheaper Clippers seats, insisting his Knicks loyalty ran too deep for a Lakers conversion, now holds equity in the very franchise he said he couldn't bring himself to support. The $12.5 billion sale, arriving just fourteen months after Mark Walter's own acquisition, suggests that even the most storied institutions move at the speed of money — and that the allegiances we declare in public are rarely the last word on who we become.
Bob Iger now owns a piece of the Los Angeles Lakers — a fact that would be unremarkable if not for what he said five years ago. In January 2021, on JJ Redick's podcast, Iger explained that he had never rooted for the Lakers despite living in California for two decades. He was a Knicks man, he said, and that ran too deep. When he moved to Los Angeles in 2000, he didn't convert — he adopted the Clippers instead, drawn by the practical appeal of cheaper seats in the same arena.
That old clip resurfaced this week when news broke that Iger, alongside Josh Kushner, had joined an ownership group buying the Lakers for $12.5 billion. The internet found the quote quickly, and the contrast was hard to ignore: the man who once chose the cheaper rival ticket now holds equity in the franchise he'd publicly rejected.
The sale carries its own separate intrigue. Mark Walter had acquired the Lakers' controlling stake from the Buss family in June 2025 for roughly $10 billion. Fourteen months later, the team was moving again at $12.5 billion — a swift turnaround for an asset of this scale. Walter's broader business dealings have attracted federal attention over private-credit investments, though no public evidence connects that scrutiny to the decision to sell.
For Iger, the purchase is a peculiar kind of reversal — less a business transaction than a personal one. Whether his loyalties have genuinely shifted, or whether ownership simply operates by a different logic than fandom, is a question his old Clippers seat cannot answer.
Bob Iger now owns a piece of the Los Angeles Lakers. This fact alone would be unremarkable—billionaires buy sports franchises all the time—except for what Iger said five years earlier, when he was still just a courtside spectator.
In January 2021, sitting across from JJ Redick on the podcast The Old Man and the Three, Iger was asked why he'd never rooted for the Lakers despite living in California for two decades. His answer was blunt: "It just was not in my DNA." He'd grown up a Knicks fan in New York, he explained, and that allegiance ran too deep. When he relocated to Los Angeles in 2000, he didn't switch teams. Instead, he adopted the Clippers—a franchise that occupied the same arena but lived permanently in the Lakers' shadow. The reason was practical, almost comical in hindsight: the Clippers' seats were cheaper.
That podcast appearance resurfaced this week when news broke that Iger, along with Josh Kushner, had joined an ownership group purchasing the Lakers for $12.5 billion. The internet did what the internet does—it found the old clip, the old quote, the old admission of allegiance to a rival team. Here was a man who'd spent decades choosing to watch the Clippers because their tickets cost less, now holding equity in the franchise he'd said he couldn't bring himself to support.
The timing of the sale adds another layer of intrigue. Billionaire Mark Walter had purchased the Lakers' controlling stake from the Buss family in June 2025 for roughly $10 billion. Fourteen months later, he was flipping the team for $12.5 billion—a remarkably swift turnaround for an asset of this magnitude. Walter's business empire has drawn federal scrutiny over billions in private-credit investments, though there's no public evidence that any investigation prompted the sale or that Walter suddenly needed liquidity. Still, the speed of the transaction raises questions about what changed so quickly.
For Iger, the purchase represents something closer to a personal reversal. The former Disney CEO clearly possesses the resources to become a Lakers owner—that was never in doubt. But for someone who once sat in cheaper seats across the arena, rooting for the other team because his New York roots wouldn't allow him to do otherwise, becoming an owner of the franchise he'd rejected is a peculiar kind of full circle. Whether his DNA has shifted along with his bank account remains to be seen.
Citazioni salienti
It just was not in my DNA— Bob Iger, on rooting for the Lakers, January 2021
Their seats were a lot cheaper than the Lakers— Bob Iger, explaining why he chose the Clippers
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