Staples Center is going away… No, they’re not tearing the building down, but for the first time in a long time, the building that serves as home to the Los Angeles Lakers will be getting a new name from a new sponsor.
It’s a huge deal and a huge shift for fans and players alike. The building at 1111 South Figueroa Street has been known as Staples Center since before the turn of the last century – 1999. Align with the Lakers, the building his home to the Los Angeles Clippers, the L.A. Kings of the NHL, and the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA.
Under the new deal, the building will get a full-on rebranding and be named the Crypto.com Arena. Cool, eh? Crypto.com is both a website and full-on trading, investing and financial services company dealing in the brand-new world of cryptocurrencies. You may have seen the TV commercials, featuring actor Matt Damon. (They’re really cool, BTW.)
The name change didn’t come cheap. Crypto.com paid a whopping $700 million dollars for the naming rights deal. That’s a lot of bitcoin!
On his own podcast, “The Big Podcast,” Shaq talked about playing in what was – up until a few days ago – the Staples Center. “It was a blessing to be able to play in that building. To play in front of my favorite actors and actresses, to play in front of my family, score 61 points on my birthday, win championships, three in a row for the city.”
Shaq apparently feels a bit of ownership over the old name, both for himself and his old teammates from the glory years of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s. “I’m glad they’re taking the name of the Staples Center down because that was our building. Congratulations to the owners for getting a new deal, but hey, the Staples Center belongs to Shaq and Kobe forever.”
It was the pair of legends – O’Neal and the late Kobe Bryant – who rejuvenated the Lakers’ franchise after the winning era headlined by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar era was officially over. That team won the the NBA championship in 1988, and then it would be until 2000 for the next Championship, under first-year (in LA) coach Phil Jackson.
Of course as NBA and Shaq historians know, that title in 2000 was the first of three for O’Neal and Bryant. After O’Neals departure for Miami, “Black Mamba” would end up winning two more before he retired.
Check it out the next time the Lakers are on TV.. You’ll see the big shiny new logo on the top of the building, and painted on the court as well. Welcome to the Crypto.com Center!