Lakers embrace in-season tournament win with banner ceremony - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — The new in-season tournament championship banner unveiled by the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday won't be mistaken for the NBA title totems that dot the rafters at Crypto.com Arena, but it's something the team is proud of in its own right.

«I think it's great for the organization,» Lakers coach Darvin Ham said before L.A. hosted the New York Knicks. «Obviously [the tournament is] something that's going to be around. It's only going to get bigger and better. I think it's really, really cool that we're doing that. Especially being the first to win the inaugural in-season tourney.»

Lakers players paused their pregame warmups for a brief ceremony about 20 minutes prior to tipoff. A video tribute featuring highlights from L.A.'s 7-0 run through the tournament, culminating in a championship win over the Indiana Pacers in Las Vegas a week and a half ago, was played on the video board.

And then a black curtain that covered the banner was lowered to display the new decor.

The banner — black with gold accents, featuring a graphic of the NBA Cup trophy in the middle and 2023 to note the year the Lakers won it — is about half the size of the 12 banners representing the franchise's NBA championships since relocating to L.A. It's located in the rafters to the left of those, along with the five banners honoring the titles won in Minneapolis.

While the NBA championship banners won in L.A. are horizontally justified, the in-season tourney banner is vertical, with a pointed bottom, resembling a medieval jousting match decoration.

The ceremony was simple. NBA commissioner Adam Silver was not on hand. Lakers governor Jeanie Buss did not take the court. After the video recap and the banner reveal, the NBA Cup trophy was placed on