It was last June when Mark Walter reached an agreement to take over the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family. By October, the deal had been approved by the NBA Board of Governors. Now, just over a year later, Walter has agreed to sell the franchise to a new group at a reported $12.5 billion valuation.

The deal has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly amid a federal investigation into Walter’s business empire. But a former LeBron James teammate praised Walter for the reported $2.5 billion increase in the Lakers’ value.

“Lakers old owner. I got to get his exact name. He has to get flowers,” Patrick Beverley said on the 10th episode of The Pat Bev Show, “Mark Walter. Billionaire Mark Walter, the number one hustler of the decade. What you just did. I’m talking about people in the streets get put in jail for years and years and years of $100. What he just did was brilliant. I’m all with the next man getting that check.

“But you tell me I buy a team for $10 billion, LeBron leaves and I sell it for $12.5 billion. I’d have made 2.5 billion in 400 days. Hustler of the year award go Mark Walter. Straight up, kids. If y’all are listening at home look him up and he’s so cold. Hey look Mr. Walter, I ain’t going to lie to you, Mr. Walter. You’re so cold. Then he sold it to the former Disney CEO. He went Disney on them folks.”

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Last summer, the Lakers had a new owner in Mark Walter. He arrived with plenty of backing. Walter was already a majority owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and held minority stakes in Chelsea FC, among other investments. Expectations were high. Changes soon followed in the Lakers’ front office. The moves were even dubbed “Dodgerification.”

But Walter’s time with the Lakers did not last long. He has now agreed to sell the franchise to an ownership group led by Josh Kushner and former Disney CEO Bob Iger for a record-setting $12.5 billion. Iger spent more than four decades in the media business. However, the group does not have the same depth of experience in professional sports.

It all comes at a time when Mark Walter’s reported Lakers sale has raised questions about his need for liquidity amid growing financial scrutiny. So far, no charges have been filed against Walter. There are also no reports confirming that the Lakers sale was prompted by the investigation. Still, a pattern has emerged since the reported sale.

Walter is willing to sell his 12.83% stake in Chelsea FC to Clearlake Capital, which currently owns 61.5% of the Premier League club. Mark Walter has also been looking for ways to generate cash from his sports holdings. Per John Ourand, he even approached Charter Communications about exiting the Los Angeles Dodgers and Lakers’ local TV agreements early in exchange for a lump-sum payment.

Those talks ultimately failed. Walter was reportedly seeking immediate liquidity. So, Walter may have made a massive profit from the Lakers sale. But if the reports are accurate, his financial challenges could be much bigger than they first appear.

Still, Beverley wasn’t the only one to talk in “credit where credit’s due” terms.

“The NBA Board of Governors will certainly be excited by the fact that a franchise has expanded so rapidly in value,” said ​famed sports agent Leigh Steinberg. “At the end of the day, ownership is about franchise value. And this blows out the market and creates all sorts of valuations for other franchises that they’re ​jumping head over heels over.”

As it appears, thanks to the sale, this week has become the latest sign that America’s billionaire class isn’t done chasing sports franchises. Between soaring media rights deals, packed arenas, and fanbases that show no signs of cooling off, team valuations keep climbing to numbers that would’ve seemed absurd a decade ago.