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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, June 16, 2009

NBA: Private donors help Los Angeles pay for Lakers' parade


Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A spokesman for the company that owns the Los Angeles Lakers' home court says a half-dozen private donors will pay at least some of the estimated $1 million in city costs for the team's victory parade.

Efforts to defray the financially strapped city's costs follow strong criticism of using public money for Wednesday's NBA championship celebration.

Michael Roth of AEG, the company that owns the Staples Center arena, said Tuesday that six private donors have agreed to cover some of the costs for things such as police overtime.

He won't identify the donors or say how much they're contributing until an afternoon news conference.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told KTLA-TV on Monday that several hundreds thousands dollars had been raised.

The city's costs include the use of police, fire and transportation department resources.