Lakers Won’t Unveil 2020 NBA Championship Banner Without Fans at Staples Center

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a 2019-20 championship banner at some point. It just won’t be right away because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The team will wait until it is allowed to host fans at Staples Center to debut the banner, Lakers president of business operations Tim Harris told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on Tuesday:

“We won’t be unveiling a banner because we want to wait for the fans on that. When you win a championship, the championship has a lot of quote-unquote owners. A championship belongs to the team, it belongs to the players, it belongs to the fans.

“And then the stuff that comes with a championship, the assets that come with a championship, it’s kind of like the ownership group are the caretakers of the trophy. And the rings when you win a championship, those belong to the players. And the banner when you win a championship belongs to the fans. That’s kind of how I look at this.”

Team members will receive their championship rings Tuesday before a matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers. But the banner reveal will have to wait.

“We’ve obviously been awarded the trophy. And (Tuesday) night we’ll award the rings,” Harris said. “And we want to wait, if we can, with all hope, until we have a chance to unveil the banner with the owners of the banners—which is the fans—there with us.”

The banner will hang from the rafters, but it will be covered in a black cloak with the message, “Stay tuned, Lakers family,” printed on it in yellow.

The Lakers will have a slightly different look whenever that banner is unveiled after a busy offseason. Staples such as LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso and Markieff Morris return, but players like Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo, Danny Green, Avery Bradley and JaVale McGee all departed this offseason. 

In their place will be Marc Gasol, Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder and Wesley Matthews. The Lakers probably won’t match last year’s excellent defense that helped them secure banner No. 17, though their offseason additions should bolster the offense. 

And the hope will be that banner No. 18 soon follows, even if it might be some time before the 2019-20 version is unveiled.