Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger agreed to buy the Los Angeles Lakers for $12.5 billion, the highest price ever paid for a sports team, in a deal that now awaits approval from the NBA Board of Governors. Iger said the transaction came together in three days after he and Kushner, who had been pursuing a potential NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas through Thrive Eternal, learned that Mark Walter might be willing to sell. Walter said he had loved owning the Lakers but decided recently it was time to exit, booking a $2.5 billion profit after 14 months of ownership. The sale lands as Walter's business empire faces a federal probe into $21 billion in possibly fraudulent loans tied to two Delaware life insurers he owns, allegations that Walter and his firm deny. Kushner, founder of Thrive Capital, has built out sports investments through Thrive Eternal, including stakes in the Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat and San Francisco Giants. Iger, a longtime Clippers fan and former Disney chief executive, called the Lakers the “epitome of an eternal asset” and said he and Kushner were entering with respect for the franchise's existing strength rather than a defined operating plan.