Staples Center has been the name of the Los Angeles Lakers’ arena for 22 years, but that has come to an end. On Christmas Day, the name of the stadium will change to Crypto.com Arena.
Lakers’ governor Jeanie Buss has recently made a statement on the upcoming name change and claimed that the “wonderful memories and history” that were created in the arena “are not erased” just because of a name change. At the end of the day, the location of the arena will remain the same, and there will likely be a lot of good basketball in Los Angeles going forward.
Wonderful memories and history are not erased with a name change. Let’s use this opportunity to remember so many happy times (Phil, Shaq, Kobe teams from day one!!) and let’s plan on making many more. #LakersFamily https://t.co/vVd9nofBre
— Jeanie Buss (@JeanieBuss) December 23, 2021
Wonderful memories and history are not erased with a name change. Let’s use this opportunity to remember so many happy times (Phil, Shaq, Kobe teams from day one!!) and let’s plan on making many more.
It seems as though Jeanie Buss is relatively positive about the name change, but that is not necessarily the case for everyone. Clippers star Paul George was upset with the name change, claiming that the history of the place would be stripped with the place being called something different. Former Lakers forward Josh Hart has previously stated that the arena is “always going to be Staples Center”. It is clear that there are a lot of different opinions regarding the issue.
Changing the name was very lucrative for AEG, the owners of the arena. Crypto.com reportedly paid $700 million for the name change, which would make it the largest United States venue deal ever made. From a financial standpoint, the move certainly makes a lot of sense.
The Los Angeles Lakers will have opportunities to win more championships in the arena in the future and give Lakers fans more happy times. It might even happen this season, though it is obvious that the Lakers have a lot of work to do before they become a championship-caliber team. Hopefully, they will be able to figure things out and start climbing back to the top of the standings, perhaps finishing the year on a good note after the name change.
