Lakers Reportedly Oppose Ads on Jerseys: Latest Details and Reaction

There are already ads on WNBA jerseys, and the majority of NBA teams apparently want the practice to cross over into their league. Just don’t count the Los Angeles Lakers as one of them.

According to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, the Lakers were one of the “few” teams that opposed the idea of ads on jerseys at Sunday’s owners meeting. Haynes also wrote that the majority were in favor and voting will occur at a “later date.”

From an aesthetic standpoint, it makes sense that the Lakers would be hesitant to put advertisements on the iconic purple-and-gold jerseys that players such as Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant wore in their legendary careers.

The jerseys have also become so well-known because the Lakers’ 16 titles rank second in league history behind only the Boston Celtics' 17.

Despite an abysmal 11-44 record this season, the Lakers had the fourth-highest merchandise sales, according to NBA.com's release on Jan. 20, and Bryant’s jersey was the third-highest seller for players.

Perhaps Los Angeles simply doesn’t want to change anything about the popular jerseys, even if advertising would lead to additional revenue.

Darren Rovell and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com broke down the league proposal and said the Board of Governors must approve it. Teams would be allowed to sell one corporate logo for the 2017-18 campaign, which just so happens to coincide with the league’s new apparel deal with Nike.

Rovell and Windhorst also said any deals “would be restricted to three years” and feature logos on the upper-left chest, much like the Kia logos that adorned the All-Star Game jerseys on Sunday.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver (deputy commissioner at the time) discussed selling ads on jerseys in 2011, but according to Rovell and Windhorst, “Momentum was halted as t...

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