Lakers considering return to Honolulu
Advertiser Staff
The Los Angeles Lakers are considering returning their training camp to Honolulu this fall and may play an exhibition game here en route to Japan.
Associated Press
General manager Mitch Kupchak said, "internally, we're discussing the possibility of returning in some fashion."
Shaquille O'Neal made his debut as a Laker in Hawai'i.
Kupchak said, "Hawai'i has always been a great stop for us and we consider the state of Hawai'i to be an extension of our fan base."
He said a final decision would probably be made after the NBA playoffs.
The Lakers yesterday announced plans to play the Golden State Warriors in a pair of exhibition games in Tokyo prior to the start of the 2001-2002 season. The teams would play Oct. 13 and 14 at the Tokyo Dome.
The Lakers appeared in Hawai'i every preseason but one between 1988 and '96, usually holding their training camp here as well. This was where Magic johnson made the first of his "comebacks" and where Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant debuted as Lakers.
The absence, 1991, was due to an NBA-sponsored exhibition tour to France. They had planned a biennial trip to Hawai'i after 1997, but 1998 was bumped by the league-wide lockout and 1999 was the odd-year out in the rotation. Last year the team moved into its new multi-million dollar El Segundo, Calif. facility and chose to play its exhibitions in California.
