“You’re embarrassing yourselves” – Fans in disbelief as Lakers organization unveil ‘troll job’ banner after In-season tournament win

The Los Angeles Lakers won the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament. The NBA has been touting the tournament as a legitimate competition from the start. The Lakers, with LeBron James leading the charge, were the team that bought into the seriousness of the tournament. 

Announced before the start of the 2023–24 season, many fans and analysts were left confused as to what the tournament brought to an already packed regular-season schedule. 

Some analysts claimed it was a distraction from the eventual target every team in the league aspires to achieve. However, the NBA was adamant that this tournament would bring added competition to the regular season. 

James and the Lakers bought into the concept and publicly admitted that their target was to win the inaugural tournament. After a lot of back-and-forth discussions with the league, they finally unveiled a banner commemorating the victory.

However, the main problem with the in-season tournament, according to many, was that it did not add any actual benefits to the regular season standings. The standings are important at the end of the season to decide the playoffs. Had the in-season tournament benefited the teams playing in the final four toward their playoff seedings, it would have made more sense to the fans. 

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers went 7-0 in the tournament. They beat the Indiana Pacers 123-109 to be the first team in NBA history to hoist the championship trophy. Anthony Davis dominated the game with a 41-point, 20-rebounds, and a 5-assist outing.

LeBron James was named the MVP of the tournament, averaging 26.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists throughout the tournament. 

Fans are still not sure if the Lakers should hoist this banner

The Los Angeles Lakers is a franchise that prides itself on its 17 NBA championship wins. Such is their pride that they are known to not even hang conference title victories in their arena. So when they finally decided to hand out the In-Season Tournament banner, fans and some analysts were left dumbfounded.

During the unveiling ceremony before the game against the New York Knicks, fans were lighting it up on social media with troll comments. Such was their disbelief that the Lakers were breaking their tradition that they did not hold back.

Sharing a wide spectrum of reactions online, here’s what fans have to say:

The NBA and the Lakers have made the in-season tournament a success. But it may need further improvement to capture the attention of fans. But to the fans, whatever the future is, the Lakers unveiling this banner was beyond their imagination.

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