The Los Angeles Lakers helped legitimize the inaugural In-Season Tournament as they took each of their games seriously en route to winning the first-ever NBA Cup.
The Lakers were the only team to finish the tournament with a perfect record, going 7-0 and beating the Indiana Pacers in the championship game in Las Vegas. It was a wonderful run for Los Angeles, who clearly looked like a different team given what was at stake for the players and their legacies.
After winning the tournament, there was some debate as to whether or not the Lakers would hang a banner to commemorate the occasion. The team settled on a different sort of banner to display, where the year of their championship would be listed with room made for any future titles.
Before their game against the New York Knicks, Los Angeles unveiled the banner, though people like former guard Ron Harper weren’t pleased to see it next to the franchise’s NBA championship ones. via his personal X account:
Embarrassing to all of those NBA finals championships banners… WOW
— Ron Harper (@HARPER04_5) December 19, 2023
Harper played for the Lakers from 1999-2001 and was a member of the organization’s championship teams in 2000 and 2001. Harper also won three titles as a member of the Chicago Bulls, so he knows exactly what it’s like to climb the NBA mountaintop.
For older players like Harper, hanging a banner for the In-Season Tournament understandably doesn’t sit right with them given the significance of an NBA championship. But the Lakers seemed to have approached it the right way. The team did not make a big spectacle over the banner unveiling as the ceremony only lasted a few minutes before they started the game against New York.
While it might seem strange for the In-Season Tournament banner to hang next to the NBA championship banners, it’s an accomplishment that’s worth celebrating given it was the first one and they worked hard for it. There are surely numerous people who share Harper’s opinion on the banner, but the purple and gold should be proud of taking the championship home.
Darvin Ham takes pride in Lakers being In-Season Tournament champions
While Harper doesn’t agree with the decision, head coach Darvin Ham believes winning the first In-Season Tournament is meaningful. The tournament games seemed to bring the best out of most teams, so Los Angeles earned their title.
Ham believes the tournament will continue to get better, and takes pride knowing his team came out on top.
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