The move further strengthens the connection between the Lakers and Dodgers since Mark Walter purchased the team. It has been assumed that Walter would look to use many of the same tactics that have made the Dodgers so successful over to the Lakers and Rosen taking over the business operations should allow for that transition to take place.

Rosen has a long history with the Lakers as well, so he is very familiar with what the franchise is all about and obviously knows what has worked well for the Dodgers. So it should be no surprise that he is planning on bringing some of those best practices from the Dodgers over to the Lakers, via Ramona Shelburne of ESPN:

This is a full circle moment for Rosen, who began his career as an intern with the Lakers the year before Dr Jerry Buss bought the team. As I understand it, he will be running the Lakers business operations with an eye on bringing some of the best practices from the Dodgers… https://t.co/7PpcTuF8rV

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) February 19, 2026

As Shelburne noted, this is really a full circle moment for Rosen, who worked his way up from Lakers intern to Director of Promotions. He also was the agent and business partner for Lakers legend Magic Johnson, so his deep ties to both franchises make him the ideal hire for this position.

The Dodgers have become the premier franchise in baseball both on and off the field with Rosen playing a big role on the business side and there are plenty of things that can transfer over to the Lakers to help this franchise grow even more.

Lakers executives have already been consulting with top Dodgers’ brass on some things and now bringing Rosen on board will only make that pipeline even stronger as Walter takes over as owner.

Lon Rosen outlines goals in new role with Lakers

Lon Rosen has already released a statement after being named Lakers new President of Business Operations, outlining his ultimate goal in his new role while adding that he is looking forward to working with Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka.

Rosen has had a close relationship with Buss since the 1980s, making this an even more seamless transition for him.

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Earlier this week, it was reported Tim Harris, who has served as the Lakers President of Business Operations and has been with the franchise for more than 30 years, would be stepping down at the end of the season. The franchise moved quickly to find his replacement in someone who is familiar with the franchise and family of both the Lakers and Dodgers.

“For many years, I have seen the impact that Lon has had in our industry,” Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss said. “Over that time, I have learned that not only is Lon a great person, but he also has a deep understanding of both sports and entertainment and a true feel for where this business is headed.”

“Finding someone who could fill Tim’s shoes overseeing the business side of our organization would never be easy,” said Buss. “The answer, we soon realized, was someone both Mark and I knew well – and who already understood the values, culture and commitment to excellence of both the Dodgers and the Lakers.” 

For his part, Rosen is excited at this new role he is embarking on with the Lakers franchise.

“I’m beyond grateful to Jeanie and Mark for trusting me with this incredible opportunity,” Rosen said. “As everyone knows, the economics of the sports business are constantly changing – and they will continue to do so.

“But, at root, my job is a simple one: figuring out how to do right by our employees and our partners while ensuring that the Lakers continue to provide an unparalleled experience for our fans in Los Angeles and around the world. I look forward to working alongside Jeanie, Rob and the whole front-office team to make that happen.”

New owner Mark Walter is already putting pieces in place to help move the franchise forward on all fronts and Rosen, who was previously a high-powered agent who represented Lakers icon Magic Johnson, is someone who understands this franchise and what it means to be a Laker very well.

Luka Doncic on board with Lakers’ quiet trade deadline plan

This offseason is shaping up to be a major one for the Lakers as they are armed with cap space and draft picks to deal. The team didn’t do much during the recent trade deadline in order to maintain their flexibility for the summer and superstar guard Luka Doncic is on board with that plan as well.

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The Dodgers’ initial list of bobblehead nights includes 21 giveaways, though O’Neal is just one of three non-Dodgers to have one in their honor so far. The other two are famous rapper and actor Ice Cube and LAFC star Son Heung-min. Ice Cube’s will be handed out on Mar. 12 against the San Francisco Giants, while Heung-min will have his hosted on July 11 against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

This also marks the second bobblehead for O’Neal in 2026 as FOCO recently released a bobblehead commemorating the three Finals MVPs he won as a member of the Lakers. FOCO also released a bobblehead depicting current purple and gold stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.

The Dodgers do a great job promoting other Los Angeles sports legends, and O’Neal will have fans coming in droves considering what he means to the city. O’Neal was the driving force behind the Lakers’ “three-peat” at the turn of the new millennium and they remain as the last team to win three consecutive championships.

However, the Dodgers are trying to accomplish the feat themselves and are in in prime position to do so as they’re once again considered the overwhelming favorites to win again. The Dodgers wasted no time adding to their star-studded roster in free agency, signing the best closer in Edwin Diaz and following it up by signing Kyle Tucker, who was the best overall player left in the market.

Los Angeles is blessed to have such great teams to root for and it’ll be fun for fans to see O’Neal’s bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium later this year.

James Harden honored to pass Shaquille O’Neal on the NBA’s all-time scoring list

At his peak, Shaquille O’Neal was the most dominant player in the game as he could score at will against any defense. No matter how hard teams tried to guard O’Neal, he was simply too strong and too skilled to be stopped.

Injuries sapped O’Neal of his production in the later years of his career, but he still managed to finish his career with 28,596 points. O’Neal previously held the No. 9 spot on the NBA’s all-time scoring list but recently saw Cleveland Cavaliers star James Harden surpass him.

As someone that was born and raised in Southern California, Harden called it a true honor to pass O’Neal on the list.

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General manager Rob Pelinka and governor Jeanie Buss are still the head decision-makers for the Lakers, but Walter has gotten significantly increased input.

The Lakers are now entering a multi-year process of modeling their own front office to reflect that of the Dodgers. Led by Andrew Friedman and one of MLB’s deepest scouting, analytics and development teams, the Dodgers have won back-to-back World Series’ while maintaining one of the best farm systems in baseball.

Baseball and basketball are obviously much different in terms of league structure, but it can only help the Lakers to try and be more like their L.A. counterparts. Friedman and Walter have been providing counsel to Pelinka, who appreciates everything they’ve done up to this point, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

“[It’s] been great to have sort of outside allies and advocates looking at the Dodgers and the success they’ve had and what they’ve built over there, and being able to tap into a person like Andrew Friedman for best practices,” Pelinka said.

Pelinka gave high praise to Friedman, who has been viewed by many as the architect of the budding Dodgers dynasty:

“He’s so incredibly smart and has done such an amazing job bringing championships to the Dodgers,” Pelinka said. “So just to have another head of another team that you can, whether it’s a roster move, whether it’s a staff move, just someone that you can talk to has been an incredible resource.”

The Lakers modeling themselves after the Dodgers could come with significant changes. Those were all laid out in a conversation between Walter, Pelinka and Buss:

“When Mark bought the team, Jeanie and I did a really deep dive with him on sort of the areas he wants to grow and move into and get aggressive,” Pelinka said. “Looking at the Dodgers and how they built it out has been a great sort of example and North Star. And so we’re still going through that process of how we’ll look in the offseason and what additions we’ll make. But there will be some positive changes, and we will build things out.”

When getting into specifics, Pelinka mentioned the depth and spending power of the Dodgers’ operation:

“[The Dodgers], just the way they’ve sort of built out their front office, how deep it is — there is no expense they’ll spare in being the best sort of front office in the world,” Pelinka said.

All of that is music to the ears of Lakers fans, who would love to see a more significant investment in things like scouting and analytics. Running a small front office is extremely limiting in the modern NBA, as it doesn’t allow for some of the creativity that has been displayed from teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder in their dealings.

Pelinka and Buss, for now, are still leading that charge. But with some help behind them, they could revive the Lakers franchise to more than just a star destination.

Rob Pelinka believes Lakers were aggressive at trade deadline

The Lakers made one move at the trade deadline, sending Gabe Vincent and a 2032 second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Luke Kennard. However, Pelinka still saw their deadline approach as aggressive, saying that they were aggressive in rejecting bad offers to keep optionality ahead of a very important summer.

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Walter has had a lot of success with the Dodgers, winning three of the last six World Series’, and now will look to do the same with the Lakers.

In order for that to be possible though, some changes are needed. When Walter took over the Dodgers, he invested heavily in the infrastructure of the organization, building an exceptional front office with the brightest minds in the sport, led by Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, as well as other departments like scouting and analytics.

The Lakers, on the other hand, have had one of the smallest front office and scouting departments in recent years, which is part of why they have often been losing on the margins.

It appears that is set to change though as according to Dan Woike of The Athletic, the Lakers are planning to add to their front office this offseason to model the organization after the Dodgers:

The summer presents an opportunity, armed with significant cap flexibility, to start building the necessary components of a modern front office and reap early benefits. League sources say that includes significant hires to a wide range of front-office positions this summer, with the Lakers expected to model their front office after the World Series-winning Los Angeles Dodgers.

“It’s going to be scary,” one rival executive said when asked about the potential of the built-out front office the Lakers are expected to assemble.

It is worth noting that Walter has also invested a lot into the Dodgers’ roster over the years, signing numerous big-name free agents. MLB does not have a salary cap so that type of spending can’t be replicated for the Lakers, although they will be going into the offseason with a ton of assets and cap space to improve the roster.

How they use those assets and cap space will be vital though, which is why Walter wants to bring in more smart people to help Rob Pelinka run the front office. Who they target will be interesting to see, but it appears some big changes are on the horizon for the Lakers to get them back to a point where they are consistently competing for championships.

Dodgers executive Andrew Friedman outlines involvement with Lakers

Friedman has done an incredible job building the Dodgers into a juggernaut, and now he is trying to help do the same with the Lakers. Both Friedman and Zaidi have been consulting for Pelinka and the Lakers, and the former recently detailed what that entails.

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