The NBA recently announced that its 2020-21 regular season would be kicking off in late December, with the Los Angeles Lakers slated to defend its title from 2019-20. However, Los Angeles will be forced to do so without any fans in attendance to begin the season, as the Purple and Gold have formally announced their plan.
“Following the guidance of State and local health officials, the Los Angeles Lakers have announced that Lakers games for the 2020-2021 season will be held without fans until further notice,” the team's official statement reads. “The health and safety of our fans, players, staff and community are our main priority and we will continue to work with state and local officials to come up with a plan to safely welcome fans back to STAPLES Center in adherence with local, State, and NBA guidelines.”
It remains to be seen as to how such decision will affect their rivals Los Angeles Clippers, a team that also plays its home games at STAPLES Center. The Clips have yet to release a statement of its own regarding the same matter.
One interesting tidbit surrounding all of this is that the league has yet to release its regular season schedule for 2020-21. As a result, the Lakers don't know yet what games and opponents will fall into the category that is effected by the aforementioned decision.
Nonetheless, the league and, obviously, the Lakers operated quite well in the virtual world of the “NBA bubble” down in Orlando.
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