LOS ANGELES – When ABC announcer Mike Breen called the final seconds of victory in the October Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals in October, he proclaimed, “Banner no. 17 will soon hang in the rafters ”.
He was right about the suspended part. What Breen didn’t know was that when the Lakers open the season against the LA Clippers on Tuesday, no one will actually be able to see the banner that makes their new home at the Staples Center.
The Lakers will have a black cloak covering the banner of the 2019-20 championship for the opening night, with the message “Stay tuned, the Lakers family”, printed in gold letters.
It will remain covered until the coronavirus pandemic disappears and fans are left behind in the building for games.
“We will not reveal a banner because we want to wait for fans to do so,” Lakers President Tim Harris told ESPN. “When you win a championship, the championship has a lot of owners who don’t quote. A championship belongs to the team, it belongs to the players, it belongs to the fans.
“And then the things that come with a championship, the assets that come with a championship, it’s like the ownership group is the trophy keeper. And the rings when you win a championship, they belong to the players. And the banner when you win a championship belongs to the fans. that’s how I look at it. “
The last time Staples Center hosted a fan game was on March 10th. At the end of November, the Department of Public Health in LA County issued an order banning all public and private gatherings of people who do not come from the same household.
“Obviously we were awarded the trophy. And [Tuesday] “We’re going to tune in at night,” Harris told ESPN. And we want to wait, if we can, with all hope, until we have the chance to reveal the banner with the banner owners – who are the fans – – there with us. “
As for the black cloak, Harris explained, “They say, ‘We’ll wait for you.'”
The ring ceremony will continue, without the pomp and normal circumstances that accompany a purple and gold championship celebration.
“We started thinking,‘ How are we going to do this? How will we reveal this event when we have no fans? “When you do a TV show,” Harris said.
“For the banner, we’re missing a part of it. We’re missing a component of it, and these are the people who have a big part of winning this, and that’s the fans. So we’ll wait.”