On Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets, securing the elusive 50-win regular-season record and a No. 3 seed placement in the NBA playoffs, set to begin later this week.
However, in the wake of these achievements, the team caused more than $17,000 worth of damage to the locker room. The classic image of a team, dumping water or Gatorade over the winning coach was taken to new heights by the Lakers.
According to Sports Illustrated, “L.A. dumped eight buckets of water on head coach JJ Redick, damaging the locker room carpet.”
When asked during the press conference, Lakers forward Rui Hachimura said, “The whole locker room is literally water. Straight water.” Meanwhile, coach Redick, joked about hoping the carpet could be repaired or replaced before the team takes the court again in nine days.
The water damage comes just one season after Crypto.com Arena invested in a significant renovation of the locker room for the Lakers. The locker room is heavily branded and brought the team’s space up to modern locker room standards compared to its 2018 refresh.
It has not been announced if the team will be fined for the cost of repairs.
