Lakers Sold
The Los Angeles Lakers have been sold for the second time in less than a year. The sale values the Lakers at $12.5 billion (up from $10 billion just 10 months ago), and the controlling stake in the team will be transferred, pending approval from the league, from businessman Mark Walter to Disney CEO Bob Iger and businessman Josh Kushner. These two sales now mark the first and second most expensive U.S. sports franchise transactions in history.
Analysis and eternal perspective: Sports is big business. As someone who is both a sports fan and interested in business, the exploding valuations of U.S. sports franchises are intriguing to me. At the same time, it is quite difficult to get my mind around the magnitude of the finances involved, and it is tempting for me to dismiss the story as irrelevant to me. There is, however, a great deal of truth to be gleaned from the story.
Consider Ecclesiastes 9:10 and Luke 16:10:
“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Ecc. 9:10).
“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” (Lk. 16:10).
It is highly likely this story feels out of reach for you. It certainly does for me. But you have been given numerous assignments, ranging from personal to family to professional. Are you evaluating them for size, or are you simply carrying them out to the best of your ability and for the glory of God?
Further, do you view your “small” assignments as insignificant? In reality, they are your testing and proving grounds. If you are diligent in them, you will be entrusted with more. Conversely, if you dismiss them as insignificant, even those will be taken from you.
Let’s together set aside the size of an assignment as a reason to be drawn to or away from a task. Instead, let’s be fervent and faithful in asking God whether a given situation is something He is assigning to us. If God responds in the affirmative, embrace the task—big or small—with everything you’ve got! You might not be buying the Lakers, but then again, there is no limit in the Kingdom economy!