Report: Lakers to Ask Senior Level Staff to Defer 20 Percent of Their Salary

The continuing coronavirus pandemic has had a financial impact on all NBA teams, with the Los Angeles Lakers now asking some senior members of the team’s staff to defer 20 percent of their pay.

The money that’s being deferred will help blunt financial issues for lower-paid employees of the organization, with residents of the state of California still under a shelter-in-place order.

After the current crisis ends, the Lakers staff that agrees to the deferral will receive the money that was originally due to it.

There currently remains no timeline regarding the possible resumption of NBA action, which was suspended after games on March 11. No guarantee even exists that the 2019-20 season will resume once a final decision is made.

The cancellation of the remainder of the season would be a painful blow to a Lakers team that had the best record in the Western Conference at 49-14 when play was suspended on March 11.

If the season does resume, the possibility exists that the league would go straight to the postseason. That decision would allow the Lakers to have home-court advantage through the conference finals.

The work stoppage was the latest in a series of hits to the Lakers organization, coming just a few months after the shocking death of team legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, in January.