Los Angeles Lakers Announce Plans for New State-of-the-Art Practice Facility

Concluding, as they are, one of the most woeful seasons in franchise history, the Los Angeles Lakers need something—anything—to wash away the pain and distract from the fact that, the way things are looking now, next year might not be much better.

How about a brand new shiny building?



According to the team’s official press release, the new complex will serve as a training facility for both the Lakers and their D-League affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

Think a state-of-the-art practice center does little good beyond providing more comfortable digs for coaches and players? Think again.



Now it all comes into sharper focus: The Lakers feel like they're losing the battle—if not the war—for the hearts and minds of L.A. hoops fans and wanted to flex their monetary muscle in any way they could.

Some of these tweets make the Lakers’ old practice digs, the Toyota Sports Center, sound like a dog food factory. In fact, it’s only 14 years old.

No word yet on how much the facility will cost, but knowing the Lakers, nary an expense will be spared.

And for good reason.

With the science—how athletes train, how they eat—playing an ever-more crucial role in today’s professional sports, it’s only natural teams would seek to outfit their charges with the best bells and whistles available.

That L.A. is planning on building its new complex within walking distance of the Toyota Sports Center (per Mike Bresnahan) means its conceivable they could continue using the latter as a kind of ancillary resource.

In a 2005 story by Jerry Crowe and Roger Vincent of the Los Angeles Times, then Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy underscored the import role such amenities could have—not just for a player’s brawn and brains, but their brotherhood as well.

Ultimately, i...

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