Luka Doncic didn’t sound rattled when word reached him that the Lakers were changing hands again in August. According to Ramona Shelburne, his private response to manager Lara Beth Seager was as measured as it was blunt.
“There’s not much that can shock me anymore,” Doncic told Seager.
Seager had passed along the news from Slovenia after getting a late-night tip in Dallas, and the report makes clear that this was Doncic’s behind-the-scenes reaction to the August agreement in which Mark Walter agreed to sell his Lakers interest to Bob Iger and Josh Kushner. It was a private exchange, separate from the message Doncic later gave publicly.
On Aug. 12, he posted on X and made it plain where he stood. “Being a Laker means everything to me,” Doncic wrote. He also said he was excited to get back on the court and chase a title in Los Angeles, adding that he had gotten used to big changes over the last few years and believed “there is no limit to the potential of this iconic franchise.”
That public statement matched the one he had made in the immediate aftermath of his move to Los Angeles: full buy-in, championship ambitions and confidence in the franchise’s future.
Shelburne’s report also sheds light on how Jeanie Buss handled the uncertainty around ownership. She showed Doncic’s camp paperwork assuring her continued authority over basketball decisions, and Seager confirmed that reassurance. That detail matters because this latest sale hit a franchise already navigating questions about who would be steering the basketball side.
The earlier ownership arrangement had already spelled out Buss’s role. When the NBA approved Walter’s purchase on Oct. 30, 2025, the league said Buss would remain governor for at least five years after the deal closed. It also said the Buss family would keep an ownership stake.
At the time, Adam Silver framed the move as a blend of change and continuity. “I also want to thank and congratulate Jeanie Buss and the Buss family for 46 years of transformational leadership and service,” Silver said. “While this historic transaction transfers the Buss family’s majority interest in the Lakers, I am thrilled that Jeanie will remain the team’s Governor and an active and engaged member of our league.”
Doncic’s commitment to the Lakers had already come before this latest round of ownership news. In August 2025, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that he had agreed to a three-year, $165 million maximum extension, with Bill Duffy cited as the source. The deal included a player option in 2028.
The Lakers announced that extension without revealing the money, and Doncic’s own words in the team statement were just as emphatic as his later post on X. “I’m really grateful to the Lakers organization, my teammates and the fans for welcoming me and my family with so much support and kindness since day one,” he said.
“This is an amazing organization, and I truly believe in what we’re building together. I’m going to keep working as hard as I can to bring another championship to Los Angeles and to make Laker Nation proud.”
The ownership picture is still not settled completely. As Lakers Daily previously reported, Buss’ five siblings have challenged her effort to block the sale of the family trust’s shares. That dispute is over the family’s remaining stake and Buss’s continued role, with the siblings’ opposition reflecting their position in the litigation rather than any final ruling.
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