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Jan 23, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers logo at midcourt at the Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Los Angeles is the home of glitz and glamor thanks to Hollywood and its stars, but just as much, the city has gained its allure due to the success of two of its major sports teams: the Los Angeles Lakers and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This past summer, the Lakers were involved in one of the largest franchise sales in sports history when Jeanie Buss sold a majority stake to Mark Walter for $10 billion.
Walter, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and many other sports organizations/teams, has found unbelievable levels of success in the MLB and is now looking to bring some of that success across town to the Purple and Gold.
A report came out recently from The Athletic's Dan Woike that the Lakers will start to try to model their front office after the Dodgers as soon as this summer. This is part of a larger scheme to not only bring back championship expectations to the organization but to ultimately land Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer.
More: NBA executive claims Lakers are setting up a 'scary' summer
Today, the Lakers took the first step down that path with a new hiring.
Lakers hire new President of Business Operations
In the first step of the Dodger-fication of the Lakers organization, the Lakers made the first of many changes by hiring Lon Rosen as the President of Business Operations.
Rosen has been the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of the Dodgers since 2012, but he actually started in the sports world with the Lakers.
In a press release by the Lakers, they mention that Rosen started with the Lakers as an intern in college before becoming a front office executive with the team in the 80's.
The Lakers named Lon Rosen as their President of Business Operations today. They will honor Pat Riley with a statue Sunday in a ceremony attended by Magic Johnson and the “Showtime” Lakers. Here's a photo of Magic, Pat and Lon after the Lakers beat the Celtics in the 1987 Finals. pic.twitter.com/EXdORRVfC9
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) February 20, 2026They go on to mention that, during his time with the Dodgers, Rosen increased revenue each year, led Major League Baseball in attendance since 2013, and helped the Dodgers win three World Series trophies.
Team revenue and attendance don't land superstars like Giannis or add draft capital, but it does provide the resources to build out a championship-caliber organization around the fringes, something the Lakers have been lacking for some time now.
Moves like this signal that the Lakers really could be setting up a scary summer.
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