The Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves in a bit of a pickle.
The team has returned a roughly $4.6 million loan from the federal government intended for small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 outbreak, according to ESPN. The Lakers had applied for the loan via the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, and received a hefty chunk of the $349 billion allotted for the program.
But the program ran out of money in less than two weeks, and several small businesses began complaining about being shut out of the first round of loans.
So, as of Monday, the Lakers have repaid the loan.
“The Lakers qualified for and received a loan under the Payroll Protection Program,” the Lakers said Monday in a statement to ESPN. “Once we found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need. The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and our community.”
The Lakers aren’t the only ones giving back massive SBA loans. Companies like Shake Shack and AutoNation, for instance, already have given back their own multi-million-dollar loans amid the backlash.
According to ESPN, the Lakers were valued at $4 billion prior to the pandemic.
