The Los Angeles Lakers are the only team in NBA history to call themselves In-Season Tournament winners. Now, they’ll have another distinction based off of their win in Las Vegas on Saturday, as the Lakers will become the only team in NBA history to have a banner in their arena that celebrates a win in the In-Season Tournament.
Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and Marc Stein brought word that despite some original indications that the team would not put anything up in the rafters if they went on to win the event, the Lakers will hang a banner in Crypto.com Arena.
The Los Angeles Lakers will raise an In-Season Tournament championship banner inside Crypto Arena, league sources tell myself and @TheSteinLine. pic.twitter.com/rzTw0LWTjq
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 11, 2023
Eventually, the Lakers confirmed that this is indeed the case, but made clear that they will make it a different shape and color so that it’s different from the ones that they’ve put in their arena to signify the number of times they have won an NBA championship.
The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a unique NBA In-Season Tournament banner to honor their 2023 IST championship. It will be a single forever banner hung on Dec. 18, where future dates will be added should the franchise win additional IST titles in future.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 11, 2023
The Lakers‘ new banner for their home arena will be a different shape and color than the existing NBA championship banners to make it distinct. The team wants to honor the moment but recognizes its distinction among titles.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 11, 2023
Los Angeles flew through the In-Season Tournament, going undefeated in group play and knocking off the Phoenix Suns at the start of the knockout rounds to earn a berth in Las Vegas. Once there, the team ran the New Orleans Pelicans off the floor in the semifinals behind a monster night by LeBron James before riding Anthony Davis to a win in the championship game over the Indiana Pacers.
