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- Kevin Love on LeBron James’ final game: ‘I know he wants to have a Kobe-type exit where he scores 60 and does his thing’
- Robert Horry calls Damian Lillard the best clutch shooter ever over Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant
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Stan Van Gundy crushes those who are getting emotional about Staples Center name change
- Updated: December 25, 2021
Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Former NBA head coach Stan Van Gundy reacted to people who are expressing emotion about the name change of the now-former Staples Center.
This nostalgic emotion about the demise of the Staples Center is crazy. First, it is a building. Second, they aren’t blowing it up. They are just changing it’s corporate sponsor. What exactly are people nostalgic about — an office supply store’s sponsorship of a building?
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) December 25, 2021
The Lakers’ home is now known as Crypto.com Arena after the cryptocurrency firm purchased the naming rights to the facility.
Those naming rights reportedly came at a steep cost of $700 million over the next 20 years.
Staples Center first opened in 1999, with many of the fans currently expressing their feelings likely on the younger side. From their perspective, the name of Staples Center is the only one that some have known during their lifetimes.
Since that 1999 opening, the arena has been the home of six NBA titles for the Lakers, including three consecutive championships from 2000 to 2002.
The facility has also been the home of the rival Los Angeles Clippers. However, they’ll be moving into a new arena in the next few years after breaking ground earlier this year.
While such nostalgia might be understandable, as Van Gundy noted, such emotions concern a building and not a human being.
In addition, arenas and stadiums all around the world change names all the time. In most cases, the changes are the result of new contracts and additional money being offered by companies.
The volatility of the cryptocurrency market could conceivably result in a downturn that would put the future of the name of Crypto.com Arena in doubt. However, until that happens, Lakers fans should focus their energies on how the team performs within the arena.
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