"Kobe didn't play at Crypto.com Arena" | The Draymond Green Show

For the first installment of Commissioner Dray, I am extremely excited in bringing this, this kind of my vantage point of how I see things, decisions that I would make if I was the commissioner. Today or yesterday, we found out some huge news. And it's huge because it is, When you touch historical monuments, it's a real thing. Like it's, you know, people associate such great times or bad times or just times with historical things. And when you touch those things, you kind of shake shit up a bit. And so coming outta LA today, we had such huge news that Staples Center will no longer be the Staples Center, and it will be the Crypto.com Arena. Interesting. Very interesting. Because sometimes in life, and especially in sports, certain things outgrow the actual thing that sits above it. And so for instance, the Staples Center, the Staples Center severely outgrew the store Staples. Like if you're anywhere in the world and you say, I'm going to Staples and especially in LA, but if you're anywhere in the world and you say, I'm going to Staples, people are going to think you are headed to LA to go to a Lakers game at the Staples Center, to go to a concert at the Staples Center, to do something at the Staples Center. If you say, I'm going to Staples. I think another example of that was Oracle Arena, where I had the luxury of winning 3 championships or playing in that building and winning 3 championships. Most people doesn't even know what the company Oracle does. Yeah. But yet if you say, oh yeah, I'm going to Oracle, they're never gonna think you're going to the company headquarters or something for the company. They're gonna think you're going to Oakland, California and going to the stadium that the Warriors played at. And so sometimes you have those situations happen and it fucking sucks. It sucks. It absolutely sucks when all of a sudden it comes up and, and there's a name change because those names grow with those places. But the reality is, for instance, the Lakers signed a 20-year deal. In 20 years, who knows if Crypto.com will be the place and there'll be some other big company that can afford the name and rights. And that's where Commissioner Draymond Green comes in that because what's the solution? Like again, people tie like all these memories to these places. I mean, one we can all tie to Staples is Kobe played there. You know, like Kobe played at Staples. Kobe didn't play at Crypto.com Arena. And so like just that whole thing, it's just like a, it really does suck. So what is the solution? It's interesting because you ask yourself, well, should these arenas be named after companies? Because they're forever changing the landscape of America and our finances and Wall Street and companies and new companies and startups and the next Facebook and all of these companies. Like it's forever constantly changing. And so we'll see more of this. This is just the late, latest, greatest huge announcement that we've seen. But we'll see more of this and more people will lose that sacred name that has grown with this place and with the successes of these teams and events that take place in these certain stadiums and arenas. And so the solution, I don't know, is it to name arenas after players? Yeah. Well, Commissioner Draymond Green, you can't do that because a player isn't paying $700 million for 20 years. As a commissioner, your number one job is to grow this league, to grow the pot, to grow the revenue, to take this league to new places. And so you're kind of faced with the task of— Yeah. Do we change something that's so sacred and that's become so big and like a staple? Or do we stay with the name and not capitalize on $700 million of revenue? As a commissioner, you must capitalize on the $700 million of revenue, as it is nearly impossible to make up $700 million of revenue. Mm-hmm. But it's tough and it never sits well with anyone. No one wants to say they're going to Crypto.com Arena, not because Crypto.com is bad, but because Staples is Staples. It's historic. I grew up watching Kobe and Shaq win championships at Staples. It sucks. And, but as commissioner, you must take the $700 million. So kudos to the Lakers and Jeanie Buss and Linda Rambis and getting a $700 million name and rights for a stadium. 'Cause it is extremely impressive. So shout out to those two women continuing to do great things with that organization. It's a beautiful thing. Yeah. But as a fan, the fan in me, I step outside, I take my commissioner hat off, the fan in me, you hate to see Staples go. You hate to see the name Oracle go because they just become so important to the makeup of these teams, to the history of these teams. You just hate to see it go.