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🏀 Good morning to all however particularly to …

THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS

One of many iconic households in all of leisure is shifting on from proudly owning one in every of sports activities’ crown jewels. The Buss household agreed to promote its majority stake within the Lakers to Dodgers proprietor Mark Walter. The franchise was valued at $10 billion, making it the most costly U.S. sports activities group sale ever by a large margin.

• The Buss household belief, which incorporates all six Buss siblings, owns 66% of the group.
• The household has owned the group since 1979, when Dr. Jerry Buss purchased it from Jack Kent Cooke. Jerry Buss died in 2013, and his daughter Jeanie Buss has been the group’s governor since. She is going to retain that function.
• The Lakers gained 11 titles underneath the Buss household’s possession.
• Magic Johnson congratulated Jeanie Buss and Walter on social media.
• The earlier largest U.S. sports activities franchise sale belonged to the Celtics, who offered to Invoice Chisholm for $6.1 billion in March.
• Walter — a minority investor within the Lakers since 2021 — bought the Dodgers in 2012. Since then, the Dodgers have gained extra video games than every other group, gained two World Collection titles and spent extravagantly on superstars reminiscent of Shohei Ohtani.

It is that final level that is the most important. The Lakers, for all their pomp and circumstance and custom, had been removed from the most important spenders just lately, Sam Quinn notes, an strategy that value them on the courtroom.

R.J. Anderson detailed how Walter constructed the Dodgers right into a powerhouse by not solely sparing no expense however by hiring well, embracing developments and far more. Oh yeah, and importantly, he stays out of the best way.

Walter’s buy makes Luka Dončić an enormous winner, however may make the GM who introduced him to Los Angeles, Rob Pelinka, slightly bit antsy, Sam writes in his winners and losers.

• Quinn: “[Walter’s] going to place the correct folks in place to guide this group into the longer term. That is no assure of something, after all, however it’s signal for Dončić’s hopes of competing for titles in Los Angeles. … Pelinka’s efficiency within the 2025 offseason is now paramount. If he can put a championship-level group round Dončić and LeBron James, his job is probably going secure. But when this season goes poorly, with out the safety of the Buss household’s possession, his seat might begin getting very heat in a short time.”

👍 Honorable mentions

👎 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 Ravens signal Jaire Alexander: Winners, losers and what’s subsequent

There is a Louisville school reunion taking place in Baltimore. In the future after Lamar Jackson inspired the Ravens to signal Jaire Alexander, Baltimore listened, signing the previous All-Professional cornerback to a one-year, $6 million deal.

There is no doubting Alexander’s expertise. The 28-year-old former Packers standout has been a Professional Bowler and a second-team All-Professional in every of his final two wholesome seasons. The issue is these seasons had been in 2022 and 2020. He performed in simply seven video games in 2024 and 2023 and simply 4 in 2021, with a litany of accidents responsible.

Baltimore already had one of many league’s greatest secondaries, which options Kyle Hamilton, Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins, Malaki Starks and Chidobe Awuzie. If Alexander stays wholesome — admittedly an enormous “if” — he provides an aggressive, ballhawking presence.

That makes Baltimore a winner and opposing quarterbacks a loser, Tyler Sullivan writes.

• Sullivan: “Within the seven video games he performed final season, Alexander allowed opposing quarterbacks to finish 56.7% of their passes with him in protection and recorded an 86.9 passer score. If Baltimore can preserve its stage of play from the second half of final season on protection, the addition of Alexander solely makes the Ravens extra of a headache to face twice a yr, particularly if he can keep wholesome.”

Baltimore has arguably the NFL’s most proficient roster. All 11 of their 2024 Professional Bowlers return, and there is depth to spare. At this level, it is Tremendous Bowl or bust, and the Alexander transfer displays that.

🏀 NBA Draft high 100 large board, mock draft: Cooper Flagg No. 1

With underneath per week to go till the NBA Draft, the finalized CBS Sports activities high 100 rankings have arrived. It needs to be no shock Cooper Flagg is No. 1, and Dylan Harper is No. 2. Now we have full scouting experiences for the highest 10 gamers proper right here.

In a late twist, Tre Johnson rose to No. 3; Kyle Boone provides him a grade of 93.5 (out of 100), compares him to Malik Monk and charges his strengths as “high-level scorer,” “creating playmaker” and “electrical fast launch weapon.” That final trait is what caught my eye most. When he is rolling as a bounce shooter, he is laborious to cease.

In at No. 8 is Khaman Maluach, and Kyle wrote a great story concerning the South Sudan native, Duke product and “essentially the most fascinating prospect” within the draft:

• Boone: “And not using a basketball purpose throughout lockdown, he saved pushing himself however needed to get artistic: he’d stack giant tires one on high of one other till the makeshift rubber rim was 10 toes tall, or someplace shut. Then he’d follow his capturing. That continued for a yr earlier than NBA scouts really helpful he attend NBA Academy Africa in Saly, Senegal, which opened in November 2018. … Maluach was the youngest participant ever at an NBA Academy college upon enrollment and roughly 4,700 miles away from his house in Uganda — almost double the gap, for scale, from Los Angeles to Durham, North Carolina.”

Maluach goes ninth to the Raptors in Kyle’s newest mock draft.

Nonetheless, it is Flagg, Maluach’s Blue Devils teammate, who has been and would be the object of fascination. Sam says if the Mavericks actually need to profit from Flagg, they need to commerce Anthony Davis.

🏒 How Panthers’ tradition lifted them to dynasty standing

“Tradition” is a phrase you hear so much in sports activities however cannot actually outline. It is camaraderie, sure, however it’s additionally belief and teamwork. A capability to push each other with out pushing too laborious and let gamers be themselves with out compromising on requirements.

The back-to-back Stanley Cup Last champion Panthers embody tradition, Austin Nivison writes.

• Nivison: “Paul Maurice‘s enthusiasm for teaching has been restored, and the tradition within the Florida locker room is the most important cause why. … After all, group leaders like Sam Bennett are the cultivators and caretakers of that tradition. The toughness and dedication to successful from the Panthers’ high gamers turned evident shortly after their Sport 6 win. … In Dawn, tradition is immeasurable, however for very totally different causes. The Panthers have taken an overused cliche and developed a real dedication to selflessness and successful.”

I liked this story. Tradition could also be immeasurable, however you noticed it each step of the best way. After which the Panthers had one heck of a celebration.

📺 What we’re watching Thursday

⚾ Angels at Yankees, 1:05 p.m. on MLB Community
⚾ Mets at Braves, 7:15 p.m. on MLB Community
🏀 Sport 6: Thunder at Pacers (Thunder lead 3-2), 8:30 p.m. on ABC
⚽ USMNT vs. Saudi Arabia, 9:15 p.m. on FS1