Add the Los Angeles Lakers to the list of NBA teams that won’t be staying at a Trump hotel.
The Lakers were set to stay at the Trump SoHo hotel in New York ahead of their matchup against the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday but decided not to, citing “security concerns,” per The Los Angeles Times. The team insisted the decision wasn’t politically motivated, but rather they didn’t want protests to affect their stay and schedule.
The Lakers are the fifth team to eschew staying at hotels owned or branded by President-elect Donald Trump, joining the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies and a portion of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Trump SoHo isn’t owned by the man it’s named for, and protests in the city have focused more on Trump Tower than the Downtown Manhattan hotel, so it’s possible the Lakers are choosing to say their reasoning isn’t political to avoid attracting attention. Or they could simply want to stay in Brooklyn rather than across the East River, and that would make sense, too.
It is a free country, after all.
Thumbnail photo via Justin Ford/USA TODAY Sports Images
