The LA Lakers have already played two games in their home state in their six-game preseason slate. Those two games were against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 4 and Oct. 6, respectively. However, they did not host those games in their usual home court, the Crypto.com Arena.
Instead, they played against these two teams at the Acrisure Arena located at Greater Palm Springs.
On the “Hoop Collective” podcast, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst detailed the reason why the Lakers haven’t played at their usual home court.
“Right now the Lakers can’t use Crypto.com,” Windhorst said. “There’s a pretty heavy renovation going on there right now especially outside the building.”
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Windhorst talked about what he saw at the Crypto.com Arena before revealing that an important piece of team history is being heavily protected.
“The Kobe (Bryant) statue is protected like it’s the Hope Diamond,” Windhorst added. “There’s giant barriers and padding around – no one is getting close to the Kobe statue.” (34:51-35:50)
The Lakers have played their home games in the same arena since 1999. Back then, it was called the Staples Center. In Dec. 2021, the name was changed to Crypto.com Arena.
They used to share that court with the LA Clippers, but the Clippers have a new home arena at the Intuit Dome. The WNBA’s LA Sparks and the NHL’s LA Kings also play at the Crypto.com Arena.
There are statues dedicated to Magic Johnson, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal and Chuck Hearn at the arena.
Aside from these, there are also currently two dedicated to the late Kobe Bryant. One depicts him wearing his number eight jersey for the earlier part of his career. The other depicts a moment between him and his daughter Gianna Bryant.
There are plans for a third Kobe statue which will depict him wearing his number 24 jersey.
How many championships have the Lakers won at the Crypto.com Arena/Staples Center?
The LA Lakers have the second-most championships in league history with 17. The first five were won in the 1940s and ’50s when they were still playing in Minneapolis.
Of the remaining 12 titles, two were won right at the Crypto.com Arena. The first franchise title won in this arena was in 2000 when it was still called the Staples Center against the Indiana Pacers. The series-clinching victory happened in Game 6 in front of the LA home crowd.
LA also won the NBA title in 2001 and ’02 but the final games in both these series were played at the opponent’s home court. LA took home another title in 2009 but clinched the title at the Amway Center in Orlando.
In 2010, LA was in the Finals once again, facing off against the rival Boston Celtics. The series came down to a Game 7 where the Celtics had to deal with the LA-faithful at the Staples Center. The Lakers capitalized on their homecourt advantage, winning the championship in front of their home fans.
In 2020, LA won the Finals against the Miami Heat. However, the series was played in the NBA Bubble in Florida.
