The Lakers are relocating, sort of. G-League team moving to Palm Springs

The Los Angeles Lakers are relocating and rebranding. No, not those Lakers. Well yes, but not exactly.

The Lakers announced Thursday that its G-League affiliate South Bay Lakers will no longer play their home games at UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, California, instead moving the team to the Greater Palm Springs region and renaming them the Coachella Valley Lakers. At the start of the 2026-27 NBA G-League season, the Coachella Valley Lakers will play their home games Acrisure Arena, an 11,000-max capacity multi-purpose event venue in Palm Desert. "I have enjoyed a long-time relationship with Jerry and Jeanie Buss, Lon Rosen and Linda Rambis.

And I am beyond thrilled to have the Coachella Valley Lakers call OVG’s Acrisure Arena their home. Go Lakers," Oak View Group Senior Partner Irving Azoff said in a news release. The venue has been mainly used for concerts, comedy shows and hockey games.

The facility serves as the home of the American Hockey League affiliate of the Seattle Kraken, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Lakers have also hosted a couple of NBA preseason games at Acrisure Arena in 2024, against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Phoenix Suns on Oct. 4 and 6, respectively.