Adam Silver Addresses Mark Walter’s Allegations & Lakers Sale: “We Spoke to Government Agencies”

When the NBA approved Mark Walter as the Los Angeles Lakers' controlling owner last year, Adam Silver publicly backed the decision. Now, less than a year later, Walter has agreed to sell the franchise while his business empire faces federal scrutiny, putting the league's vetting process under a fresh spotlight.

Speaking after the NBA's Board of Governors meetings, Silver defended the league's due diligence and said the NBA had found no concerns when it reviewed Walter before approving him as the Lakers' principal governor.

"We went through the full process we all do," Silver said. "We spoke to governmental agencies, we spoke to, in the case of Mark Walter, a heavily regulated insurance industry. We spoke to other leagues in which he has investments, and we found no red flags."

Silver also stressed that the issues surrounding Walter remain allegations and that the NBA itself was not investigating him when it approved his ownership.

"Even to this day, these are, you can call them allegations. There are issues that are now being looked into," Silver said. "But independent of Mark Walter choosing to sell his team right now, he was not being investigated by our league. I don't know what's happening in other leagues right now."

The timing of Walter's exit has raised questions because he had only become the Lakers' controlling owner less than a year earlier. He has now agreed to sell his stake to a group led by Thrive Capital founder Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger at a reported $12.5 billion valuation. The transaction was first reported in August and still required NBA approval at the time of those reports.

Silver said the NBA had no advance warning that Walter was looking to sell.

He explained that he only learned about Walter's plans when the prospective buyers told him they already had a handshake agreement with the Lakers owner.

That made the speed of the transaction even more notable. Reports said the discussions between Walter and the prospective buyers moved quickly, with the deal coming together after only a short period of negotiations.

The $12.5 billion valuation is also roughly $2.5 billion above the price at which Walter acquired the Lakers from the Buss family.

Federal scrutiny has followed Walter's business empire

The questions surrounding Walter extend beyond the Lakers.

Federal authorities are examining aspects of his insurance businesses and related financial dealings. Reports have said the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether Walter-controlled insurers failed to properly disclose loans and investments involving affiliated companies.

The scrutiny has also reportedly involved questions surrounding investments made by Mubadala Capital into Walter's TWG Global.

Walter's company has said it is cooperating with the authorities and has rejected suggestions that the Lakers sale was a distressed transaction. The reported $12.5 billion valuation represents a substantial increase from the price Walter paid for the franchise less than a year earlier.

The Lakers are not the only major sports property connected to Walter. He also remains associated with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and reports have indicated that the Dodgers were not part of the Lakers transaction and were not being put up for sale.

For Silver, however, the issue now comes down to what the NBA knew when it approved Walter's ownership.

The commissioner maintains that the league followed its normal vetting process, spoke with government agencies and other leagues, and found no red flags at the time. What federal investigators may uncover about Walter's business dealings is a separate matter, and Silver made clear that the NBA's current position is based on the information available when the league approved him.