The Los Angeles Lakers won the first-ever in-season tournament championship last weekend with a victory in the finals over the Indiana Pacers. And they reportedly plan to let everyone know about it.
The In-Season Tournament was a controversial implementation by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, as many fans don’t believe that it ultimately matters all that much in the grand scheme of the season, as it plays no role in the postseason
However, the Lakers clearly see their championship victory as a big accomplishment. According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, the Lakers plan to raise an In-Season Tournament championship banner inside Crypto Arena going forward.
Haynes added that the banner will be a different color and shape than the organization’s existing championships banners to “make it distinct”.
For a historic franchise like the Lakers, banners are typically only reserved for NBA Finals victories. So it is certainly surprising that the organization seems to value this in-season tournament win so much.
Fans took notice of this report from Haynes. Most seem to believe that their In-Season Tournament championship isn’t an accomplishment worthy of a banner.
Some are even claiming that the NBA requested the Lakers to do this in order to legitimize the In-Season Tournament further to fans.
On one hand, the Lakers raising this banner seems to be an attempt to make the In-Season Tournament as important as an NBA Finals victory. And at this point, that is pretty laughable to most fans.
However, other sports such as soccer take In-Season Tournament victories very seriously. And there is nothing wrong with the NBA trying to do the same.
Regardless, the NBA clearly has a ton of work to do to legitimize the In-Season Tournament. Because at this point, fans still seem to see it as nothing more than regular season games.
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