With Mark Walter taking over as majority owner, the Los Angeles Lakers organization has already, and will continue to, undergo significant changes.
Among those is moving their G League team to the Coachella Valley, where they will get to play in an arena as opposed to the team’s practice facility in El Segundo. With them moving out of the UCLA Health Training Center though, Rob Pelinka detailed the changes coming to the practice facility to further advance the Lakers organization in numerous areas.
“Working with Lon Rosen, who is now our president of business, our G League team is relocating to a beautiful 10,000-seat arena in Coachella Valley. So what that does in our building is it opens up all of this space, and we have actually a space in the back, where we’re working in collaboration with some of the Dodgers folks to bring in a biomechanics lab, new movement lab, a recovery lab,” Pelinka announced at his annual end-of-season press conference.
“Those things are super expensive to do and super thoughtful. We’re doing the planning with Lon and his team, and that construction is going to happen this offseason. They’re going to be redoing aspects of the court as well. It’s a full rebuild and retool, and it’s adding to the great things that are already here, which have led to success.
“But elevating it and bringing it to the next level. So an ongoing process we’ll be doing throughout the offseason and hopefully culminating in and around the Summer League in Vegas.”
The Lakers have lagged behind other organizations in recent years when it comes to technological and analytical advances. With Walter in charge though, it appears they will spare no expenses to get the organization where it needs to be to compete for championships every year, much like he did after taking over the L.A. Dodgers in 2012.
Injuries have certainly been an issue for the Lakers, so adding equipment such as biomechanical, movement and recovery labs should help the players stay healthy to be able to perform at their best.
Lakers planning to hire assistant GMs
The NBA salary cap does not apply to staff members, so new Lakers ownership seems to be building out their front office to gain advantages in areas other than the roster.
Pelinka revealed they are in the process of interviewing candidates to add to the front office with him wanting to hire two assistant general managers this offseason.
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