In a segment on ‘Inside the NBA,’ Lakers legend Shaquille O’Neal defended his former team for raising their in-season tournament banner alongside their actual championship banners. Amid ongoing backlash from Lakers Nation, O’Neal explained why the IST banner is more of a decoration than an accolade of equal weight to the Larry O’Brien.
“If you look at the real banner, it’s a certain color. This is just an ornament. It’s not a banner because it doesn’t look like the other banners… it’s decoration.”
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1737357143282450786
As winners of 17 NBA championships, no organization in NBA history knows what it means to win more than the Lakers. Even so, fans were disappointed to see the Lakers treat the tournament with such importance, especially since it may have slowed them down during the regular season. But regardless of the raised banner, fans should make no mistake in thinking that the Lakers are satisfied this season. The hard work has really just begun this season and now all eyes are set on positioning the team for an actual playoff run this spring.
Should Lakers Hang The IST Banner?
Lakers Nation has been in a heated debate over the in-season championship. The Lakers made history as the first team to win it, but they were brutally clowned for celebrating the victory. Right now, fans just don’t consider the in-season tournament to hold much weight and the Lakers became the laughingstock of the league when they decided to raise the banner.
It's a total slap to what Kobe said all because the @LosLakers want to embrace someone with a losing record in the finals who only won a @Disney ring along with this ridiculous banner @celtic fans are laughing hard
— MoCarter (@PasLcarter) December 20, 2023
Some Lakers fans felt embarrassed for their team, that they went all out with champagne and a ceremony for a tournament that means nothing in the grand scheme of things.
These cats had a ceremony for something that means nothing. It's really embarrassing and a terrible look for such an iconic franchise. That right there is why they will not win an NBA championship anytime soon.
— chris beard (@CMurk312) December 20, 2023
Of course, there are also some people on the other side of this. Like it or not, the Lakers accomplished something during the tournament and they made history by becoming the first team ever to win it.
achieving something new should be celebrated, why not, yes you compete for championships but the league included this tournament then why not celebrate. theres nothing wrong to it. coz its the Lakers? but if its a different team they would praise that org.
— Watashi_Wa_Star (@itscapitanri) December 20, 2023
This conversation will likely continue for months or even years, but it will be a while before anybody gets used to the in-season tournament. Down the road, once a few more in-season tournaments have been played fans will have a better idea of how to weight it compared to other team accolades. For now, though, the ultimate prize is the Larry O’Brien trophy and the Lakers are actively working to bring home that trophy after coming so close a season ago.
Lakers Battling For 18th Title
All will be forgiven in Lakerland if they can win the Finals again for the first time since 2020. During the in-season tournament, and especially during the final games in Las Vegas, the Lakers looked absolutely dominant. But after winning the tourney, the team has not looked the same. Their record is just 1-3 in that span so far, including an embarrassing loss to the 3-20 Spurs.
Heading into Christmas, the Lakers still feel confident about their chances to make another long playoff run but it’s going to be harder than ever to come out of the West. As the Timberwolves, Kings, Nuggets, Mavericks, and Thunder all fight for the top five seeds in the West, the margin for error is slim for the Lakers and it’s going to take a complete and cohesive effort from everyone to pull it off.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
