The Los Angeles Lakers received much pushback for how the team celebrated its inaugural NBA In-Seaon Tournament victory over the Indiana Pacers. The winners of 17 titles, the Lakers also decided to hang a banner in the rafters of Crypto.com Arena.
On Monday, the Los Angeles Lakers raised a banner to celebrate their recent accomplishment before their game against the New York Knicks. It was surprising because the Lakers usually don’t raise banners for winning the Western Conference Championship or the Pacific Division.
According to The Messegner’s Arash Markazi, that stance wasn’t supposed to change because of the IST.
I’m told the Lakers currently have no plans to change their stance on only hanging banners for NBA championships. They don’t hang banners for Western Conference titles, Pacific Division titles and (for now) potential NBA In-Season Tournament titles, only NBA titles.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) December 8, 2023
However, they did, leading some to speculate about a possible ulterior motive and suggesting that the league may have played a part in this decision.
Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report discussed this on the #thisleague UNCUT podcast and suggested that the league may have influenced the Lakers to hang the In-Season Tournament banner.
“I wasn’t sure they would do it, but I know the league really wanted any team who won the In-Season Tournament; they wanted the team to do something to kind of say that this is a big deal,” Haynes said via SB Nation’s Silver Screen and Roll. “I know that the Lakers had a little bit of pressure. I don’t know to what extent, but I know the Lakers felt a little bit of pressure to do something.”
Did the NBA successfully leverage its influence to elevate the In-Season Tournament’s status? The Lakers’ unexpected banner might be the answer.
