Lakers’ Chairman Jeanie Buss Reveals Why they Picked May 12 to Unveil Their Championship Banner

The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off of an unprecedented season as they won their 17th championship. But due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all the post-season games in 2019-20 were played in empty arenas.

This trend continued early this season as well, as no fans were allowed in the Staples Center. With no fans, Lakers’ ring ceremony in the opening night certainly was missing its general flair.

Jeanie Buss reveals the unveiling of Lakers’ 17th championship banner

While the ring ceremony might have concluded, the Laker fans still can celebrate last season’s prolific championship run. With the Lakers finally welcoming fans from the second week of April, the Staples Center will finally see crowds in some capacity.

Given that they will have a number of fans in the arena, Jeanie Buss recently revealed when the team is going to unveil its 17th championship banner.

“Well, we finally have a date as to when we’re going to unveil the championship banner that will be May 12th, which is our final home regular season game.

“There was a couple reasons why we waited first of all on opening night we didn’t have any fans. So now that we’ve finally gotten the nod that we’re allowed to have some fans, we decided that that the last regular season game would be good.”

Buss later revealed why May 12 was the ideal date. “We’ll have as many fans as we can get and hopefully we’ll have a completely healthy team by then with LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the court and um you know. It’s a good send-off as we prepare to go into the playoffs.”

Can LeBron & Co. retain their championship this season?

The Lakers currently are enduring a challenging regular season. With the absence of superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the champions have seen a massive drop of quality in their roster.

Their schedule hasn’t helped them by any means. With losses piling up, the Lakers are slipping down the pecking order in the stacked Western Conference. Teams like the Brooklyn Nets are also getting stronger by the day and are arguably the favorites ahead of the Lakers for the championship.

But all of this could change drastically in four weeks. With the scheduled return of both of their superstars, the champions will once again be back to their best. New signing Andre Drummond is also a great pickup as a dominant rebounder and shot-blocker of the ball.

The Lakers still might have a horror show in the regular season, but come the post-season, the healthy Lakers will be a problem for all the opposing teams.