Written by: Wilson Williams
It’s been a tough year for the Los Angeles Lakers family.
Over a year ago, after signing LeBron James; the iconic Magic Johnson decided to step down on disagreement to fire Luke Walton and save his friendship with Jeanie Buss.
The Lakers would later recover after a lot of media criticism of being a dysfunctional organization.
And then this happened: we all remember the most devastating day in Lakers history on January 26th; the tragic passing of Kobe and Gianna Bryant.
The news shocked the world, as many Lakers’ fans mourned for quite some time.
Two months later, the NBA season shut down because of a deadly Coronavirus. During this time, two Lakers players contracted the disease. The irony, the Lakers were having their best season in over 10 years. At the time of the lockdown, the Lakers were 1st in the Western Conference. Some say the Lakers were favorites to win the NBA title.
Fast forward, the US Treasury Department representative Steve Mnuchin attacks Jeanie Buss and the Lakers for receiving $4.6 million in loans, but after hearing funds were depleted; the organization returned the money. Over 200 other major companies opted to keep their loans despite criticism for not being a typical small business. The Lakers have always taken pride in being a generous family business, so at this point; the only agenda was to do the right thing.
Currently, the Lakers have not furloughed or laid off any of their 300 full-time/part-time employees due to COVID-19.
With that said, the Lakers’ top executives agreed to defer 20% of their salaries to ensure all employees get paid. The Lakers’ legacy will only grow from here.
Featured Image: Business Insider
