Although no one can see it, from the top of the Staples Center already hangs the banner of the 17th ring of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The franchise does not want to open it until there is an audience in the stands, so for a few months it will remain covered with a black tarp that announces, "Attentive, laker family."
With California in the midst of a new wave, it will be months, if not the entire season, before anyone can see it.
The Lakers did comply with the other part of the protocol and, on the first night of the course, they gave the champions rings to the players who won the title just two months ago.
A jewelery piece full of hidden winks:
- The ring is presided over by an L made up of 17 purple amethysts, one for each title the Lakers have won in their history.
- Amethysts weigh 0.95 carats, in honor of the 95 days the team spent in the Orlando bubble.
- The top can be removed and reveals a small 'altar' with the retired Lakers numbers.
They are placed on a background that imitates the skin of the black mamba, just like the two shirts with 8 and 24, the most heartfelt nod to Kobe Bryant, but not the only one.
- Below that top is the slogan 'Unity', in memory of the social justice protests that marked the bubble.
- On one side, the ring has the player's name, the phrase 'Leave a legacy', the motto that presided over the playoffs, and his number on a black mamba.
- On the other side, there are the results of the four qualifiers, the year 2020 and the balance of the team in the regular season.
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And after the ceremony, the game against the Clippers, which ended in defeat for the champions (109-116), weighed down by the absence of
LeBron James
during the last eight minutes due to an ankle problem.
In principle, nothing to jeopardize your presence in
Luka Doncic's
Christmas game against the Dallas Maverick
.
They will go slowly, they had already dropped it.
The Clippers, who closed the first year of a project built to aspire to the title, did not have that privilege.
Paul George
, on target for his performance in the playoffs and for his role in the dirty laundry aired these months, was the protagonist with 33 points, by 26 from
Kawhi Leonard
.
Marc Gasol
was left blank in his debut as a starter with the Lakers.
0 points in 12 minutes: six in the first half and another six in the second.
They will also go slowly with him.
For his part,
Serge Ibaka
made his debut for the Clippers starting with 15 points and six rebounds.
Durant is back
The first minutes of the course flew by seeing
Kevin Durant
back.
How little this league needs to offer a thread to hang on to.
As if 18 months had not passed and the Achilles tendon had not ruptured, Durant looked like that, Durant.
And it is not little, because he is one of the best scorers in history.
In just five minutes, he scored 10 points over the Warriors.
A front triple as soon as he reached the attack, two suspensions on the boat with that hypnotic fluidity in a 2.10 player, and a dunk going over the baseline.
22 points in 25 minutes.
How difficult to hold optimism.
With Durant or with these Brooklyn Nets who finally had their coming-out.
18 months after the project was born and with
Steve Nash
and
Mike D'Antoni
on the bench, an incentive that makes it even more suggestive.
The letter of introduction was unbeatable: a very fluid team, with flight in transition and a depth of closet that only the Lakers can match.
Kyrie Irving had
26 points in another 25 minutes,
Caris LeVert
, 20, and before they knew it the Warriors had destroyed them between their fingers (125-99).
Golden State has lost
Klay Thompson again
for the entire season and won't have
Draymond Green
for a while.
With those wickers, it only remained to see
Stephen Curry
(20 very discreet points), who had only played one game in the last 14 months, and the debut of
James Wiseman
(19), number two in the
draft
.
Little against some Nets that have started at a gallop.
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