The Lakers’ Staples Center will soon undergo a much-needed name change. Bryant, the player whose jersey number is retired at the arena, made it clear he doesn’t approve of his team’s new moniker after witnessing its slow demise in recent years.
The LA Lakers are moving to a new arena this summer, but the team reportedly has one last request for fans. The home of the Lakers is being renamed Staples Center after it’s corporate buyer, so Bryant wants her name on the building as well.
The “staples center capacity” is the number of seats in Staples Center. The arena will be renamed to LA LIVE, but Lakers fans are still not ready for the change.
The announcement of the anticipated Staples Center name change was made all the more bizarre by an element of randomness. Staples Center hosted both of Los Angeles’ NBA clubs for years — though that might change depending on the Clippers’ future intentions — and became a cultural icon in the city. However, as Vanessa Bryant pointed out to Lakers fans, one guy is chiefly responsible for the arena’s transformation into a sacred space.
Late Tuesday night, Bryant turned to Instagram with a simple message: “The House That Kobe Built” is and will always be “The House That Kobe Built.”
Beginning Dec. 25, Staples Center, the legendary home of the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers among others since 1999, will be renamed: Staples Center. Arena: https://t.co/lur8Hbuv0r It’s thought to be the biggest name rights transaction in the United States to date.
November 17, 2021 — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania)
Vanessa Bryant will definitely find it hard to consider her late husband’s two jerseys hanging at Crypto.com Arena.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and others, Staples Center will undergo a makeover on December 25, with the new name replacing the “Staples Center” appellation. The story highlights cryptocurrency’s growing popularity in the world of sports.
Several NBA players are linked in some way with cryptocurrencies or non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs were used as Twitter profile images by Stephen Curry and others. With an NFT launch, Orlando Magic rookie Jalen Suggs declared for the 2021 NBA Draft. The company is growing.
According to ESPN, Crypto.com will pay $700 million for the name rights for the next 20 years, making it the biggest naming rights transaction in history. The LA Sparks (WNBA) and LA Kings (hockey) have been merged into the Lakers and Clippers’ collaboration.
Despite the fact that it may be tough to acclimate to the new moniker, Vanessa Bryant reminded fans that Staples Center has always been Kobe’s platform.
Staples Center is the “House That Kobe Built,” according to Vanessa Bryant.
Vanessa Bryant proposed a simple remedy to Lakers fans who were having trouble adjusting to the new name.
Kobe Bryant’s legendary No. 24 jersey was plastered on the façade of the Staples Center, according to Bryant’s Instagram account. “Forever known as “The House That Kobe Built,” read the caption. Even if it becomes Crypto.com Arena, it sounds like a better name.
The Staples Center replaced the LA Forum as the Lakers’ home in October 1999. It was the setting for some great events.
In their first season at Staples, Kobe Bryant and the Lakers won the NBA championship. They’d go on to win the following two tournaments, completing an unprecedented three-peat. Fans had to wait a long time for another title, but Bryant never stopped hitting.
When Kobe Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors in January 2006, he gave the Staples Center audience the second-highest scoring performance in NBA history. Another lasting memory is his game-winning shot in Game 4 of a first-round series against the Phoenix Suns later that year.
In 2009 and 2010, Bryant led the Lakers to back-to-back championships, the second of which was won at home against the archrival Boston Celtics in Game 7. Finally, he finished his career on a high note by scoring 60 points in his last game against the Utah Jazz in 2016.
As he constructed one of the greatest legacies in NBA history, the Black Mamba provided fans at Staples Center with innumerable images over the years. “The House That Kobe Built,” as Vanessa Bryant put it, is a better moniker for the venue.
Not only did Kobe Bryant leave a lasting influence on Lakers fans, but on the whole globe.
Left to Right: Maxx Wolfson/Getty Images and FG | The Bryant family (L) and the Staples Center (R) GC Images/Bauer-Griffin/Bauer-Griffin/Bauer-Griffin/Bauer-Griffin
In January 2020, a helicopter accident outside of Calabasas claimed the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and seven other people. Despite the tragedy, there was beauty to be discovered.
Fans converted Staples Center into a real monument for Bryant, with Kobe memorabilia and photos decorating the arena’s outside. Murals depicting Bean and Gigi appeared all around town. The city was enveloped by his larger-than-life character.
Bryant’s impact, on the other hand, extended well beyond Los Angeles.
While most people recognized Kobe as a basketball player, his position as a “Girl Dad” gained to prominence and resonated with dads worldwide, as well as other basketball players like Zach Randolph. Vanessa Bryant echoed this sentiment at her husband’s memorial ceremony at the Staples Center on Feb. 24, 2020.
The Staples Center is more than simply Kobe Bryant’s former home court. It’s the basis for his development as a player, man, and parent on his way to become one of sports’ most recognizable people. That’s why Staples is known as “Kobe’s House.”
RELATED: After Mark Cuban said the Lakers should cut Kobe Bryant, he dominated the Mavericks: ‘Amnesty THAT,’ they say.
Vanessa Bryant, the wife of Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant, reminded fans of Staples Center’s real moniker ahead of its impending name change. The arena is scheduled to be renamed in 2019 following a $200 million naming rights agreement with AEG. Reference: vanessa bryant net worth.
Related Tags
- lakers stadium
- when is kobe bryant birthday
- how tall is vanessa bryant
