LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers have hung a modest black banner at their downtown arena to celebrate their unbeaten run to the championship of the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament.
The Lakers unveiled the black-and-gold banner nestled near the franchise’s 17 NBA championship banners on Monday night before they hosted the New York Knicks.
The players paused their pregame warmups for a brief tribute video and a celebration with the NBA Cup as their fans clapped politely. Nobody addressed the crowd before the banner was unveiled.
The Lakers deliberately put a subdued nature on their celebrations nine days after they beat Indiana in Las Vegas to win the tournament title. The decorated franchise famously doesn’t hang banners for division titles or conference titles, and it has only retired the uniform numbers of Basketball Hall of Famers.
But the Lakers eventually decided the tournament victory deserves its own recognition — beyond the $500,000 awarded to each player. Los Angeles went 7-0 in tournament play, with LeBron James putting on vintage performances along the way.
“I think it’s great,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of the tournament before the game. “Any time you can get highly competitive basketball with the best athletes in the world, I think it’s great for the fans, great for the organizations, and ultimately great for the NBA.”
The new vertical In-Season Tournament banner hangs near the five horizontal banners representing the Minneapolis Lakers’ titles before the team moved to the West Coast. The 12 golden, horizontal title banners earned in Los Angeles still dominate the north wall of the arena.
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