In A Surprise Twist The Lakers Are Changing Course And Will Actually Hang A Banner For Their In-Season Tournament Championship

Prior to the IST Finals, there were reports that even if they won, the Lakers would not raise a banner to their rafters, as that was something only reserved for NBA titles

Upon seeing that tweet, I wrote this blog where I actually supported this stance, at least for the Lakers. I'm someone who believes not all franchises are created equal when it comes to this thing, especially one with the history of winning like the Lakers

Well, egg on my face because wouldn't you know it, the Lakers are actually raising a banner 

In my blog, I wondered if Adam Silver and the league would go so far as to make the Lakers do something like this in an effort to give the IST more legitimacy. They want this thing to be something people care about, and usually that comes with some sort of banner. We all saw the trophy presentation after the Final, that was as close as you're going to get to an NBA Finals trophy celebration in December, and I didn't want to rule out the possibility that the league would step in and not let the Lakers avoid having a banner.

For all the talk about only raising NBA banners and then immediately changing course and raising an IST banner, it does feel like Silver made the call. Does the team want to honor the moment or did the league mandate it? It was sort of a running joke that whatever team won the IST could raise this "fake" title banner since they most likely wouldn't win the real thing, but now the precedent is set. If you win the IST, that comes with a banner in your rafters.

If this was something the Lakers could choose, well then that's embarrassing for them. They already have banners claiming titles they didn't even win in LA so I guess we shouldn't be surprised. 

As someone who roots for a team that has an "NBA title banner or nothing" rule, I can't say I love this. To me, that's sacred air. If you are a franchise that doesn't hang division or conference banners, I don't think you should have to raise one for the IST. I'm sure there are other ways you can honor that achievement while keeping the rafters strictly for the real, NBA titles. For the majority of franchises, I don't really see the problem. If they want to hang a banner, cool. Especially if they've never won the title.

But the Lakers, or Celts, or any other team that has a long history of titles and championship banners in their rafters? It feels a little weird, especially if the only thing currently up there is for an actual championship.