NBA Arenas Booking Other Events for December Already

The depressing fallout from this NBA lockout continues to roll in. The OC Register reports that Staples Center has already erased a mid-December game between the Lakers and Raptors off its slate (rumored contingency schedules be damned): “The combustion that was the end of the first mediation stage of NBA labor negotiations increased the likelihood of canceling more than the first two weeks of regular-season games. But let it be known that the league already has taken another game off the schedule. The Lakers’ still-scheduled Dec. 13 home game against the Toronto Raptors will not happen under any circumstances then and there. That’s because the NBA has already allowed Staples Center to vacate its commitment to the Lakers that day and schedule an extra date of the Jay-Z and Kanye West concert tour. According to a statement from the NBA: ‘With the cancellation of the first two weeks of the season, the NBA schedule would have to be reworked and certain dates — including Dec. 13 for a Lakers game at Staples Center — would not be part of any revised schedule.’ Actually, it’s two additional NBA games already on the move, because the league did the same thing to accommodate another Jay-Z and Kanye show at Chicago’s United Center on Nov. 30, when the Bulls are currently scheduled to play the San Antonio Spurs.”