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NBA commissioner Adam Silver says the league found \u201cno red flags\u201d when Mark Walter was vetted to take majority control of the Los Angeles Lakers, despite Walter later becoming the subject of a federal investigation.<\/p>\n
Walter agreed to purchase majority control of the Lakers in June 2025 after previously holding a minority stake in the franchise. Earlier this summer, it was reported that Walter was under investigation over allegations that billions of dollars in policyholder funds from insurance companies he controls were used to purchase sports teams without proper disclosure, according to The Athletic.<\/p>\n
Speaking following the NBA\u2019s recent Board of Governors meeting, Silver defended the league\u2019s approval process and said nothing concerning emerged during Walter\u2019s vetting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went through the full process we all do. We spoke to governmental agencies. We spoke to, in the case of Mark Walter, in the heavily regulated insurance industry,\u201d Silver said<\/a>. \u201cWe spoke to other leagues in which he has investments and we found no red flags. Again, even to this day, these are, call them allegations, there are issues that are now being looked into. But independent of Mark Walter choosing to sell his team right now, he was not being investigated by our league.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after news of the federal investigation surfaced, Walter agreed to sell the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger in a deal reportedly worth $12.5 billion.<\/p>\n Silver was also questioned by journalist Pablo Torre about the NBA\u2019s broader process for evaluating potential owners, including whether wealthy investors could use ownership of major sports franchises to improve their public standing.<\/p>\n The commissioner said the league takes its vetting process \u201cvery seriously,\u201d while acknowledging there could still be ways to strengthen it.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of what we do is intensive database searching,\u201d Silver said. \u201cWe also take to as many people as we can find and who have knowledge about these people and we do interviews. But beyond that, I will say, we\u2019re always reassessing to see if we can do more.\u201d<\/p>\n Walter\u2019s sports portfolio has also undergone another significant change. While he remains an owner of MLB\u2019s Los Angeles Dodgers, Clearlake Capital acquired his ownership interest in Premier League club Chelsea on Wednesday.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Warriors Could Make Huge Draymond Green Trade Decision<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n