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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Lakers say they’ll pay for Monday’s NBA championship victory celebration, a more modest event than in past years.
Lakers spokesman John Black said Friday the team anticipates spending around $2 million, including police overtime and other city services.
The Lakers plan to celebrate Thursday’s victory over the Boston Celtics with a parade from Staples Center to the University of Southern California campus. The team estimates that 500,000 to 2 million people may line the two-mile route.
Last year’s celebration featured a longer parade to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where 95,000 people jammed the stands for a rally.
The Lakers and others paid for most of that event after costs to the financially strapped city were criticized.
