The Los Angeles Lakers are currently in the midst of an ambitious rebuilding effort that will not only involve changes to the team’s lineup, but to its training facilities as well. The team’s management felt that the Lakers had outgrown the recreational complex which has housed their training facilities since 1999, and this rebuilding period offered an ideal opportunity to establish a new home for the team. In late 2016, the team offered fans their first glimpse of the massive, $80 million training complex that’s currently under construction in El Segundo, California.
“A couple of years ago, we realized that as we grew, we needed to find a new facility,” said Lakers CEO Tim Harris in an interview with USA Today. “We wanted to build our own facility and have our own identity … We want players to treat this place like a second home.”
This new facility will feature a whole lot more than just practice courts and weight rooms. In the spirit of creating a home away from home for the players, it will also include a host of other amenities including a theater, lounge, barbershop, kitchen, three rehab pools and a cryogenics chamber.
Soon after the Lakers unveiled their new training facility, they announced a partnership with UCLA that provides the school with naming rights to the facility, and establishes UCLA Health as the exclusive in-game healthcare provider for players. Under the terms of the partnership, UCLA Health will also pay the Lakers $4 million per year for the next five years to help offset the costs of the training facility.
At Construction Protection Systems, we’re proud to have a played a part, however small, in this exciting new chapter of LA Lakers basketball history. Stay tuned for more updates from the makers of 1-2-3 Door Shield—the original, reusable door protection system.