Shaquille O’Neal Breaks Silence About Staples Center Name Change

The iconic Staples Center arena in Los Angeles has long been known as the home of the Lakers. That historic landmark is set to undergo a historic change soon, as the cryptocurrency website, Crypto.com has purchased the naming rights to the arena.

Crypto.com bought the rights for a whopping $700 million, and the arena will officially be renamed as the “Crypto.com Arena” starting Christmas day. This move, understandably, has a lot of fans upset.

Los Angeles Lakers legend, Shaquille O’Neal had kept his opinions about the change to himself up until this point. However, Shaq has finally decided to air his thoughts on a recent episode of “The Big Podcast With Shaq.”

It seems that the reason for Shaq’s silence was simple, he just isn’t that bothered by the change. If anything, Shaq believes that the Lakers are not currently living up to the building’s legacy, and do not deserve to be associated with the building’s name.

That was our building. Congratulations to the owners on getting a new deal. But, hey, Staples Center belongs to Shaq and Kobe. Forever.

Fans don’t seem too keen on the idea of calling the building anything other than Staples Center. However, it is clear that Shaq is, if not open to the change, at the very least not opposed to it. In fact, it seems that Shaq believes that the name change will help preserve Kobe’s legacy. Check out the clip below.

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