NBA Rule Change Clears Path for Kushner's Lakers Stake
The NBA has scrapped a rule that blocked investment firms from backing their own managing partners in club purchases, unlocking Josh Kushner's Lakers deal.
Under the previous rule, an investment firm could not add its own capital to a deal already involving one of its own managing partners when that partner sought to buy into a league club. That barred Thrive Eternal, the vehicle Kushner runs, from putting money behind his personal stake in the Lakers.
The league has now dropped that restriction. One condition remains. Once a firm and its principal hold a stake in a club together, that firm is shut out of investing in any other NBA team. Under the league's general rules, investment funds are otherwise permitted to hold stakes in several clubs at once.
The change clears a specific obstacle in the Lakers deal rather than opening ownership rules more broadly, since the ban on multi-club stakes still applies once a firm and its manager are in together.
About this article
Prepared by the editorial team with the help of algorithms, based on the sources listed