Zach LaVine, the Chicago Bulls All-Star who started his NBA career with the Minnesota Timberwolves, was the buyer who paid $34 million for a Newport Coast property. The new homeowner was widely rumored to be a professional athlete, and last month the Orange County Register speculated that LaVine might now own the palatial house, which is the most expensive estate ever sold in Pelican Crest, the gated community where Vanessa Bryant and Hоt Pockets inventor Paul Merage live.

Despite the real estate market slump, qualified buyers bought the expensive house in March. After numerous showings, the listing agents received three offers in the home’s first two weeks. After a failed escrow, the sellers accepted LaVine’s $34 million offer.

LaVine’s desire for a large mansion is no surprise. The $215 million man sold his first Newport Coast house in Crystal Cove, a smaller but similar-looking estate. The 28-year-old Seattleite also listed his suburban WаsҺinɡton state home.

The 2010 Pelican Crest home is listed as “timeless” and “irreplaceable.” It was sold for $14.7 million to Rоƅ and Ami Douk, who renovated the Tuscan-style mansion. The house is gated at the end of a cul-de-sac on a 0.79-acre lot, large for the neighborhood.

At their new O.C. palace, LaVine and Hunter will have a state-of-the-art gym, infrared sauna, wine cellar, games room, golf simulator, gourmet kitchen with two marble-topped islands, and a “Yves Saint Laurent-themed” walk-in closet in the master suite. Due to foldaway glass doors, interior spaces are grand and bright.

The property’s best feature is its pie-shaped lot, which offers unusually wide, southwest-facing Pacific Ocean views and unobstructed sunrise and sunset views. LaVine will pay $843/month in HOA dues and $34 million for those views.