Photo: Troutfarm27 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Troutfarm27 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sports Travel
Crypto.com Arena, celebrity row, and the most star-studded crowd in sports. How to plan a basketball weekend in LA around the Lakers.
Lakers games are two events at once: a basketball game and a Hollywood happening. The team plays at Crypto.com Arena in downtown LA, the crowd includes people you recognize from movies, and the building has hosted some of the most famous moments in NBA history. Even the regular season feels like an occasion.
The basketball season runs from fall through spring, which conveniently covers LA's best weather months. A Lakers game makes a perfect centerpiece for a long weekend: beach by day, basketball by night. Here's how to do it.
The Lakers are one of the NBA's marquee franchises, so marquee matchups (the Celtics, the Warriors, any team with a superstar) command marquee prices. The value play is a Tuesday night against a rebuilding team: same building, same celebrity sightings, half the price. The atmosphere barely dips; LA crowds are there for the scene as much as the score.
Photo: kris krüg from Vancouver, Canada · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Check the Lakers' Dayfari page for the schedule and ticket links when you're planning. Upper deck at Crypto.com Arena is steep but the sightlines are fine, and honestly, half the fun is people-watching between plays.
The arena anchors the downtown sports and entertainment district, which means dinner and drinks before the game are easy. Get there early enough to walk the plaza outside; on big nights it has a real buzz. LA traffic is the city's defining feature, so whatever your maps app says, add thirty minutes. The metro's A and E lines stop right at the arena and will save you the parking ordeal.
Photo: Gnaphron · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
One LA-specific note: the crowd arrives late and leaves early, especially on weeknights. It's a local tradition that visitors find baffling. Embrace it; the first quarter is the calmest, cheapest-feeling part of the night.
This is the easiest sports trip to fill: Santa Monica and Venice for the beach day, Griffith Observatory for the sunset view over the whole basin, the Getty for art with a view. LA's sprawl means you'll drive a lot, so cluster your days by area rather than zigzagging.
Check our Los Angeles pages for what's on beyond basketball: concerts, comedy, exhibitions. In a city with this much going on, the game should be the anchor, not the entire itinerary.
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