NBA fans were stunned on Wednesday when it was announced that the Buss family had agreed to sell the Los Angeles Lakers for an astonishing $10 billion. And along the way, their franchise legend, Magic Johnson, found a way to take a shot at the Boston Celtics.
Johnson spent all 13 years of his Hall of Fame playing career with the Lakers, and he frequently found himself at the center of the rivalry between L.A. and Boston. As a result, he’s not particularly fond of the C’s.
In the wake of winning the 2024 NBA Finals, the Celtics were dealt a shock when it was announced that the Grousbeck family would be selling the team. Back in March, Bill Chisholm was reported to be the buyer, with the price tag coming in at $6.1 billion.
While that is a pretty big chunk of money in its own right, the sale of the Lakers blew that number out of the water. Johnson used that as a way to take another shot at the Celtics, saying it was only right that Los Angeles sold for more than his longtime archrival did.
“Just like I thought, when the Celtics sold for $6B, I knew the Lakers were worth $10B!” Johnson said in a post on X.
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With the NBA’s new salary cap officially being ushered in, several teams have seen their ownership transition from one group to another. This is due in large part to the harsher financial penalties teams will face for spending more money, potentially making investing in an NBA team a more expensive commitment.
The sale of the Celtics still has to be approved, but for all intents and purposes, it looks like Chisholm will be spearheading the team’s new leadership group. That is important, because his financial desires could play a role in what moves Boston’s front office ends up making this offseason.
Ever the opportunist, Johnson is still finding ways to get on Celtics fans’ nerves. It’s clear, though, that with these two sales, the landscape of the NBA is changing quickly, which sets the stage for a very important offseason across the league.