The Los Angeles Lakers' decision to put up their NBA In-Season Tournament championship banner caught some people around the NBA world by surprise. A team with less impressive history would have put up the banner without question, but there were no guarantees about the Lakers amid their storied history. Paul Pierce thinks LA decided to hang the banner at Crypto.com Arena out of “spite”, via ClutchPoints.
“They did that to spite the Celtics bro,” Paul Piece told Kevin Garnett, per SHOWTIME Basketball. “I'm telling you, because we got 17… so that count towards the 17?”
Garnett told Pierce that the NBA In-Season Tournament championship doesn't count towards actual NBA Finals victories. Pierce then said the Lakers should not have put a banner up.
“So they shouldn't have put a banner, maybe they should have put like a plaque,” Pierce stated. “They should have put like a big screen TV and put it on that. Like just a video image of it. You know how you go in your house and you've got the images?”
Paul then explained that he isn't discounting the championship. However, he believes it should be “different” than a banner, since those have typically been reserved for NBA Finals championships.
To summarize, Pierce doesn't mind celebrating the in-season tourney championships, he just doesn't think it should be celebrated via a banner. Following the Lakers win this year, Paul later asked if the Celtics will put up a banner if they win the in-season tournament next season. Garnett said he expects Boston to put up a banner if they take home the in-season tourney championship during the 2024-25 campaign.
What are your thoughts on teams putting up NBA In-Season Tournament championship banners?