Rumors

The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated the legacy of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant on Friday night with a bobblehead night ahead of their matchup with the Toronto Blue Jays. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, who took over in 2016 during Bryant’s final year in the NBA, has seen up close exactly what Kobe means to the city of L.A. He was there when Bryant had a 60-point game to end his career, for countless appearances at Dodger Stadium in the years after his retirement as well as when the legend tragically passed away in Jan. 2020. It’s almost inarguable that Kobe’s impact on the city of L.A. is greater than any other athlete to don the city’s name on their uniform. With Friday night being Kobe Bryant Bobblehead Night in Los Angeles, Roberts spoke about the legend’s impact on the city, the sports world and recalls his visits to Dodger Stadium.

Lakers Nation

“His legacy is alive and well,” Roberts said. “It’s just great for the girls and Vanessa to still be a part of this. What Kobe did for the city of Los Angeles has obviously impacted a lot of us, myself. When he came here, he was a fan. I think he liked to watch the best players. He was a baseball fan, kind of seated in the dugout seats, locked in on pitches and things like that. “I’m just grateful he took the time to come here, because with his celebrity, schedule, he didn’t need to come here. But he wanted to support another Los Angeles ballclub. He was L.A. all day. This is very anticipated, and again, I give Vanessa and her family a lot of credit for continuing to work with us and partner with the Dodgers. It’s tough, it’s emotional.”

Lakers Nation

The 2024 World Series might have been short, but the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees still proved they can draw viewers. Especially in Japan. This year's Fall Classic averaged 12.1 million viewers in the home country of Dodgers stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, MLB announced Friday. That's a larger audience than the 11.3 million viewers the 2024 NBA Finals averaged earlier this year, when the Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks.

Yahoo! Sports

A year ago, as the 2022 NBA Finals began, news broke that Knight and Alan Smolinisky, a real-estate investor and minority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, had offered $2 billion to buy the Trail Blazers, one of the estate’s most valuable assets. The 85-year-old Knight is concerned about the future of Portland—his hometown which has recently been beset by social problems—and he wants to cement the team’s future there, according to people familiar with Knight and Smolinisky’s plans.

Wall Street Journal

With team values potentially reaching historic levels -- there is a belief within league leadership a potential Suns sale will break the $3 billion barrier -- the reality is there might be a shallower pool of individual buyers at such price points, team sales advisers told ESPN. There remain some interested billionaires in such a market. There was a group of bidders willing to go to the $4 billion mark on the recently sold Denver Broncos, and none were Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, who has since been linked to a possible bid for the Commanders. There were also multiple American groups that bid for Chelsea FC, which sold for more than $5 billion to a group led by Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Lakers co-owner Todd Boehly.

The Athletic

LeBron James: Rest in Power. A City of Angels icon. Another great one who made sports so damn special. #LoveLA

Twitter

Chelsea is one of the most popular—and most valuable—soccer clubs in the world, and it has attracted interest from billionaires on all six inhabited continents. Notable names that have been reported as interested, or that have publicly discussed bids, include hedge fund giant Ken Griffin, Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts, Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé, the Saudi Media Company, English businessman Martin Broughton, Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, British real estate tycoon Nick Candy, Philadelphia 76ers co-owner Josh Harris, and notable sports investor Todd Boehly, whose portfolio includes minority stakes in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Lakers.

Sportico

Philip Anschutz sold his 27% minority interest in the Los Angeles Lakers to Los Angeles Dodgers co-owners Mark Walter and Todd Boehly in a deal that closed Friday. The transaction was approved by the NBA's board of governors, according to AEG. "We remain strongly invested in the franchise's long-term success," Dan Beckerman, president and CEO of AEG, said in a statement. "We are confident that with Jeanie (Buss) as the team's controlling owner, the Lakers will continue to be the gold standard in the NBA. Mark Walter and Todd Boehly are great additions to the ownership group, and we look forward to partnering with them for many years to come."

ESPN

Anschutz-owned AEG and the Lakers recently announced a 20-year extension to the team's lease at Staples Center. It includes both sides investing in upgrades and improvements to the downtown Los Angeles arena, which the Lakers will continue to call home through 2041. Boehly will join the Lakers' board of directors, representing the interests of both Walter and himself.

ESPN

The Los Angeles Lakers winning the NBA Finals coincided with a spike in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles County, and it’s "highly likely" watch parties held by Lakers fans and the victory celebration outside of Staples Center contributed to the spike, the L.A. County Department of Public Health said. That has fueled concerns of another potential spike in COVID-19 transmission rates because the Los Angeles Dodgers are one victory away from winning their first World Series title in 32 years.

USA Today Sports

Kerr and his Palisades Charter High School team advanced to the city final in 1982, where they ran into Cleveland High School and future MLB Hall of Fame pitcher Bret Saberhagen, who threw the one and only no-hitter in the history of the championship. Nevertheless, Kerr emphasized his passion for the game, and discussed his controversial love for the Los Angeles Dodgers while working within their rival market. “I grew up a Dodger fan, I’m still a Dodger fan, which I hesitate to admit up in the Bay Area,” Kerr continued. “It was especially tough early on, and then it was a little easier after we won a couple championships. It’s like OK, I’ve got a little rope now.”

Yahoo! Sports

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James' voting-rights group has partnered with the Los Angeles Dodgers to make Dodger Stadium a polling place for the November general election, marking the first time a Major League Baseball team has offered its facility as a voting center.

ESPN

The initiative, which was announced Thursday afternoon, came together after More Than a Vote, the group James created in late June to combat voter suppression, teamed with the Dodgers, who have used the stadium as a site for coronavirus testing and food distribution in recent months.

ESPN

"Dodger Stadium is part of the fabric of Los Angeles, and we're proud to continue to partner with the County to make the property available for the benefit of the community at large," Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said in a news release. "Voting is all of our civic duty, and we're excited to work with More than a Vote to do anything we can to help get out the vote by making this process as easy, accessible and safe for all Angelenos."

ESPN