LOS ANGELES LAKERS HOST DOWNTOWN PARADE TO CELEBRATE 16TH NBA CHAMPIONSHIP

Los Angeles Events: 2010 NBA Championship Parade for the Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers will host a celebratory parade for all local fans on Monday, June 21, starting at STAPLES Center and traveling south on Figueroa Street to Jefferson Boulevard, just north of the USC campus and Galen Center. The parade route does not pass in front of the hotel, but will be only a few blocks away. Travelers are advised to anticipate delays caused by traffic congestion and allot extra travel time in to their plans.

Based on attendance for the 2002 NBA championship parade and last season’s festivities, team and City officials anticipate a crowd of between 500,000 and 2 million fans lining the two-mile parade route along South Figueroa Street.

While the City of Los Angeles and hometown Lakers held an accompanying rally attended by more than 95,000 inside the Coliseum to mark the 2009 championship, this time around, players will interact with fans from a customized flat-bed float, equipped with audio capabilities. That will help to mitigate anticipated pedestrian and traffic congestion, while also relieving security, sanitation and other civic demands otherwise required of the privately funded 2010 ceremonies.

Beginning at approximately 11 a.m. (PDT), Lakers players and their families will board the customized float at STAPLES Center, and begin winding their way down South Figueroa Street toward the USC campus before turning east on Jefferson Boulevard at the Galen Center to complete the parade. A convoy of double-decker, open-air buses and other attending vehicles will carry Lakers coaches and staff, members of the Buss family ownership group, team officials, and the Laker Girls to the conclusion of the two-mile route.

City officials recommend that, whenever possible, fans take the Metro Rail system to the Pico/Chick Hearn station adjacent to the parade route rather than attempt to drive into the STAPLES Center and Figueroa area. Parking will be available in the downtown lots surrounding STAPLES Center and the Figueroa corridor, yet street closures beginning the night before are likely to make morning traffic far more difficult.

The City anticipates closing Figueroa Street between Olympic Boulevard to the north and Jefferson Boulevard on the south beginning at midnight Sunday. Other road closures include Chick Hearn Court between Figueroa Street and Cherry Street; Cherry Street between Olympic and Pico Boulevards; Flower Street between Washington and Jefferson Boulevards; Jefferson Boulevard between Figueroa and Hoover Streets; and all intersections along the two-mile route as designated by the Los Angeles Police Department and Department of Transportation. LAPD and DOT anticipate reopening major intersections along Figueroa Street as the parade commences, pending pedestrians in those areas having dispersed and other safety conditions being met.

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Lakers Championship Parade Viewing Recommendations
Restaurants within L.A. LIVE will remain open during parade hours, yet access will be restricted to the district’s northern entrance off Olympic Boulevard. The entire southern side of L.A. LIVE will be restricted with absolutely no public viewing of the parade from 11th Street/Chick Hearn Court between Figueroa and Cherry Streets due to planned LAPD and DOT road closures.

Besides the Figueroa Street parade route between 11th Street and Jefferson Boulevard, the LAPD and DOT will close the following streets in the immediate STAPLES Center and L.A. LIVE area:

* Figueroa Street between Olympic and 11th Street
* 11th Street/Chick Hearn Court between Figueroa and Cherry Street
* Cherry Street between Olympic and Pico Boulevards

LAPD/DOT street closures further along the parade route include:

* Flower Street between Washington and Jefferson Boulevards
* Jefferson Boulevard between Figueroa and Hoover Streets
* And Figueroa Street between Jefferson and Exposition Boulevards where there is ongoing construction

LAPD/DOT will begin closing the immediate area surrounding STAPLES Center and L.A. LIVE approximately 12 a.m. (PDT) on June 22.

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