Lakers will reportedly ask ‘small group of senior level staff’ to take 20 percent pay cut

The Los Angeles Lakers are planning to ask some of their senior level staff to take a voluntary 20% pay cut, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. If it’s not clear, the team staff is different from the Staples Center hour employees, who are being taken care of through a fund.

The Lakers aren’t the first team to ask their staff to take a pay cut. Last month, the Philadelphia 76ers required members of their front office and coaching staff to take up to a 20% pay cut if they made over $50,000. However, after the public backlash the team’s controlling owner, Josh Harris, received, the 76ers reversed their mandate and are paying their employees their full salaries.

With the amount of criticism Harris got in mind, it sounds the Lakers (or whoever leaked this information) are being extra careful about the way they’re asking their employees to take less money. Will it make a difference overall? Maybe not, but it at least seems like they’re mindful of what they’re asking of their employees.

The Lakers have not released an official statement yet.

In addition to the Lakers, the Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported last month that the top-earning executives in the NBA league office, including commissioner Adam Silver and deputy commissioner Mark Tatum, had their salaries reduced by 20%.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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