Lakers Raise In-Season Tournament Championship Banner To Mixed Reviews
L.A. Lakers Raise IST Championship Banner ... Mixed Reviews All Around
The Los Angeles Lakers have officially hung up a banner to celebrate their In-Season Tournament Championship ... and, as expected, it was met with some serious mixed reviews.
The team revealed Monday night the flag will stay in the rafters at Crypto.com Arena for the foreseeable future ... something that ain't exactly sitting right with plenty of fans of the storied NBA franchise.
The In-Season Tournament championship banner is up pic.twitter.com/FiDNWutYKG
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 19, 2023 @mcten
After all, the team's won SEVENTEEN world championships -- and as you can hear in video from the pregame banner-raising ceremony prior to the contest against the Knicks, when L.A. officially hung the IST title keepsake, Lakers supporters didn't seem thrilled.
There was merely a smattering of applause ... and even LeBron James and his teammates didn't look all that pumped while watching the festivities from the court.
Lakers raise their In-Season Tournament banner 🏆 pic.twitter.com/5dcEMtfRB2
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 19, 2023 @BleacherReport
Of course, there were some who liked it, including Metta World Peace -- who told TMZ Sports last week he was definitely in favor of keeping the memento at the Lakers' home facility.
Several celebs in attendance at the game didn't seem to mind it much either ... Timothee Chalamet was all smiles in his courtside seat -- although his New York ballcap showed he probably could care less what L.A. does when it comes to decorating its arena.
Kevin Bacon, Dustin Hoffman, Mookie Betts and several other A-listers were there too ... and while it's not entirely clear what their stances were on the banner -- we take it they probably don't care much either way.
As for the action on the floor, the Lakers weren't able to cap off their banner night with a W -- they lost to the Knicks, 114-109.