Los Angeles Lakers Give Back
$4.6 Million Coronavirus Relief Loan The Lakers recently announced their
decision to return a roughly $4.6 million loan that
was granted to them by the federal government. The organization was initially
granted the loan after applying for
the Small Business Administration's
Paycheck Protection Program. The program was launched on April 3
with the intention of supporting small
businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, recent reports have shown that larger,
deep-pocketed companies are benefitting the
most from the $349 billion pool of funds. In less than two weeks, the program had
already allocated all of its funds, leaving
many small businesses without the
support they desperately need. After learning of the program’s depleted funds,
the Lakers decided to return their loan so that
those funds could be redistributed to others. Los Angeles Lakers, via statement If needed, the Lakers can take advantage of the
credit line offered by the NBA to its teams, which
was extended to $1.2 billion shortly after the
league’s season was suspended. The Lakers’ franchise also has three
billionaire minority partners and was
estimated to be worth more than $4 billion
prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Los Angeles Lakers, via statement