Friday, September 21, 2001
[ BASKETBALL ]
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. >> The NBA canceled all international exhibition games yesterday, forcing the Los Angeles Lakers to revise their schedule and reconsider plans to hold training camp in Hawaii. Lakers’ Hawaii
decision todayStar-Bulletin wire services
The Lakers were scheduled to play twice in Tokyo, Oct. 13 and 14 against the Golden State Warriors; those games will be rescheduled and held somewhere in California.
The location of training camp is also in flux. The Lakers had opted to train in Honolulu, in part because it cut down the travel time to Tokyo. But the league canceled the Japan games, as well as exhibitions scheduled in Mexico, Italy and Germany, in deference to security concerns raised by last week's terrorist attacks.
The Lakers are scheduled to fly to Honolulu one week from today. But they might just move training camp back to their El Segundo headquarters.
"As of now, we're planning on going (to Hawaii)," Lakers spokesman John Black said. "We are discussing it internally and we're having discussions with the league about the appropriateness of going or not going."
A decision should come today.
The NBA does not consider travel to Hawaii to be particularly risky. However, there are concerns that, in the event of another terrorist strike or another halt to U.S. air travel, the Lakers could be stranded in the middle of the Pacific.
If the Lakers don't go to Hawaii, they'd be forced to reschedule a third exhibition game. They're slated to play the Warriors on Oct. 7 in Honolulu.