Lakers Made The Right Call To Fully Embrace NBA Cup Win By Hanging IST Banner

Let the haters hate. LA got themselves another title.

Recently, the decision by the Los Angeles Lakers to hang their In-Season Tournament championship banner has come under some criticism. At first, the team wasn’t planning on raising any banners for winning the event, but after some pressure from the league, they decided to do so.

NBA Insider Shams Charania was the first to report that the Lakers would be raising a banner in the first place. He also mentioned that it would be a single banner that would be hung in the rafters, with future years added to it if the team were to win additional In-Season Tournaments down the line.

“It will be a single forever banner hung on Dec. 18, where future dates will be added should the franchise win additional IST titles in future.”

The Los Angeles Lakers will unveil a unique NBA In-Season Tournament banner to honor their 2023 IST championship. It will be a single forever banner hung on Dec. 18, where future dates will be added should the franchise win additional IST titles in future.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 11, 2023

This is the best way for the team to go about everything since it’s technically not a full championship banner. This is a great way for the franchise to recognize the achievement of the players, while not making too much of this tournament win.

The Lakers have typically gone against putting any banners up that aren’t NBA championships, but this is technically a title. The decision to raise the banner for this In-Season Tournament victory was a good one, and the accomplishment should be celebrated.

In-Season Tournament champs 🏆 pic.twitter.com/u5TmQWaPkc

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) December 19, 2023

Los Angeles went undefeated through their tournament run, finally taking down the Indiana Pacers in the title game. The first edition of the In-Season Tournament was a complete success for the Lakers, and the NBA should be proud.

The league wanted the players and teams to take it seriously, and they most certainly did. Almost every player said that the games felt like they had a playoff intensity to them due to the stakes. And this became especially true once the group stage was over, and the knockout rounds took place.

It became almost like a series of game sevens for the teams, and they had to stay focused throughout. The Lakers were very motivated to win the whole thing, and they deserve all the credit in the world for making it happen.

They will forever be known as the team that won the first-ever In-Season Tournament, which will become more of a known commodity as the years go on. The NBA isn’t going to get rid of this tournament anytime soon, so being the first to win it does mean something.

This is another accomplishment in the long line for the iconic franchise, and it deserves its own place among the other banners in the arena. People can criticize all they want, but nothing will change the fact that the Lakers were the team to come out on top.