Just one year after the Los Angeles Lakers were sold for 10 billion dollars, they are being sold again for 12.5 billion to a partnership of Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, the former CEO of Disney.
This sale comes after Mark Walter, the first ever person to spend 11 digits worth of money on a short-term asset play, was being investigated for loan fraud by the SEC, which has ties to Josh's brother, Jared.
Ignoring that horrifying nugget and the cap circumnavigation of the Lakers' crosstown rival, following this evaluation, the Indiana Pacers' owners are surely thinking about cashing out themselves.
The Pacers have been under the ownership of Herb Simon and the Simon family since 1983. 43 years later, with the money on the line, there may soon come a time when the Pacers will find new, more liquid ownership.
The first thing to come to mind within this conversation is how hard it is to be a contender in the modern NBA without spending. To that point, the Pacers have not paid the luxury tax once in their history, instead opting to let talent walk and to present discounted deals.
However, new ownership often does not mean the money is going back into the team. The Minnesota Timberwolves were sold by Glen Taylor to a pairing of Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore and have seen ticket prices skyrocket by factors of two or three since then.
For the good of Indiana, the Pacers should not be for sale
The NBA is a business, but it is rapidly becoming one that keeps fans on the outside looking in.
The Pacers have an electric atmosphere built on a fanbase that loves them and shows up for them even in 19-win seasons. To abandon that for the highest bidder could kill the amazing fandom found in very few other communities.
Sports are so often taken from places that never wanted to see them go. The Golden State Warriors left Oakland because the locals were priced out of games, not because they stopped caring.
As this ownership march creeps forward, it's sad to think that these teams are simply assets for their owners to flip.
The Lakers were a family-run organization for nearly 50 years. Dr. Jerry Buss was by no means a great person, but he was a great figure for basketball. He clearly cared about his team's success in a way that drew in outside crowds.
Now, after five decades, the Lakers are an expensive car to be traded and moved, not the Mona Lisa of the NBA, untouchable and inconceivably valuable by its emotional value alone.
The Pacers cannot afford to fall into the same trap. If the Simon family cares about Indiana in the way they claim to, they cannot allow themselves to be pushed out.
Indiana has a team on the verge of a comeback, headed by a player shouldering all kinds of pressure. They've been disrespected by the league office and ignored as featured attractions. To validate that perception by selling would fly in the face of some of the most devoted fans in the sport.
It would be crushing to see.
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