There Will Be a Parade

The Lakers and the city of L.A. will simply have to share the costs, which sounds about right: “The growing public debate about the cost of the traditional parade took place against a backdrop of city workers facing layoffs and mandatory furloughs, while fervent basketball fans demanded an opportunity to salute their hometown heroes. In the end, everybody won and everybody pays. Both the team and the city will kick in about $1 million each for the festivities, which for the first time includes the significant cost of renting the Coliseum. The Lakers worked with city officials to keep costs down, including ruling out a weekend celebration or a longer parade, according to Tim Harris, the Lakers’ senior vice president for business operations and chief marketing officer. The city will pay for police, transportation and general staff, said Matt Szabo, spokesman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The mayor said Sunday that to not hold a parade ‘is untenable,’ even as city officials have been meeting behind closed doors to find hundreds of millions of dollars in budget cuts.”