MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
If you've watched the NBA over the past 50 years, this might sound familiar.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #1: There it is. It's over, and the most valuable player is Magic Johnson. He starts at center, plays forward and guard, and leads the Los Angeles Lakers to a world championship.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #2: The LA Lakers - the 2010 NBA champions.
UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR #3: And that's it - it's over. This historic 2020 NBA championship belongs to the Los Angeles Lakers.
KELLY: The Los Angeles Lakers, one of the league's most storied franchises, announced this week that a controlling stake in the team will be sold for $10 billion. It's the richest deal in sports history. Jerry Buss bought the team for $67 million back in 1979 - bargain. Buss became known for his eccentric leadership style. He's famous for building what many have dubbed the Showtime Lakers.
JEFF PEARLMAN: The Lakers meant everything to him. If the team didn't play well, it was a personal failure for him.
KELLY: That is Jeff Pearlman, sports writer and author of the book "Showtime: Magic, Kareem, Riley, And The Los Angeles Lakers Dynasty Of The 1980s."
PEARLMAN: When Jerry Buss bought the Lakers in 1979, he wanted to be the owner of the Lakers. Like, yeah, it was an investment, and yeah, he wanted to make money, but more than anything, he wanted to own a basketball team, and he wanted to own the Lakers. And he saw that as his identity.
KELLY: Jerry's daughter, Jeanie Buss, took over the team in 2013 after her father died. Here she is talking to NPR's A Martínez earlier this year.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)
JEANIE BUSS: Dad explained it to me very well. He put me ultimately in charge.
A MARTÍNEZ: Right.
BUSS: He told me, Jeanie, you have the hammer, and I expect you to use it.
KELLY: Mark Walter, whose firm, Guggenheim Partners, also owns the LA Dodgers, will now have a controlling stake in the team.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANDERSON .PAAK SONG, "COME DOWN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.