What happened: Forbes estimates the Golden State Warriors at $13.5 billion in its 2026 NBA team valuations, published October 16. That is up 23% from $11 billion a year ago, and it is the fifth straight year the Warriors top the list, per Forbes. Forbes estimates the team’s 2025-26 revenue at $942 million and its operating income at $364 million.
The list: The New York Knicks rank second at $12.6 billion, up 29%, the largest one-year gain on the list, per Forbes. The Los Angeles Lakers rank third at $12.5 billion, up 25%. The Los Angeles Clippers are fourth at $7.8 billion and the Boston Celtics fifth at $7 billion. The Memphis Grizzlies rank 30th at $4 billion. The Portland Trail Blazers had the smallest gain, 1%, to $4.3 billion.
The averages: Forbes’s 30-team average is $6.1 billion, up 14% from $5.4 billion in 2025 and up 147% from $2.5 billion in 2021. Added together, the 30 estimates come to $183.78 billion. Forbes estimates total team revenue at nearly $14 billion for the 2025-26 regular season, including non-NBA events at team arenas, up 12% from the year before. The average valuation equals 13.1 times average team revenue for last season, per Forbes. The figures are enterprise values, equity plus net debt, and exclude the value of arena real estate.
The sales: Mark Walter agreed in August to sell his majority stake in the Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger at a $12.5 billion valuation, per ESPN, the same figure as Forbes’s estimate. The sale still needs approval from the NBA Board of Governors. Walter took control of the Lakers in October 2025 at a valuation of about $10 billion, per ESPN. In Portland, the Board of Governors approved the sale of the Trail Blazers to a group led by Tom Dundon on March 30. The group bought 80.1% of the team at a $4 billion valuation and will buy the remaining 19.9% at a $4.5 billion valuation by Sept. 1, 2028, per The Athletic.
Primary sources: Forbes NBA team valuations list; Forbes 2026 NBA valuations article; Forbes on the Warriors; Forbes Brasil edition of the article; ESPN on the Lakers sale; CNBC on the Lakers sale; NBA Communications on the Trail Blazers sale; Sports Business Journal on The Athletic’s Trail Blazers terms
Spot an error and it will be corrected here, with the correction noted.