The team was so impressed with the facility and the hospitality provided by the Pechanga Indian Reservation that it has made it a yearly scheduled event to come back year after year to raise money for charity. The team held its first practice at Pechanga in 2010 at the newly-built recreation center. “I know these fans, it’s a pretty far drive so they may not get a chance to come down to Arena to watch the games so to come out here and practice in front of them, I know it meant a lot to them, and it meant a lot to us.” “It was a great experience for me, my first time out here,” said Anthony Davis, Lakers forward. Specially designed t-shirts were given out to commemorate the day, which was memorable for both fans and players. The kids were tasked with running, sprinting, dribbling, shooting, and special skills drills under Lakers Youth Foundation head coach Daryl Roper and his coaching staff. The mood was light and fun, but the tune-up comes just two short days before the team’s opening 2022-23 preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, which will be held at the Arena in Los Angeles.īefore the Laker’s arrival, the Lakers Youth Foundation coaches hosted a basketball clinic for about 100 children. The shoot-around and scrimmage at the tribe’s recreation center gym on the Pechanga Reservation featured LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, and the entire Lakers team and coaches. After a four-year-long absence due to the pandemic, the Los Angeles Lakers made a much-anticipated preseason practice stop at the Pechanga Recreation Center on the Pechanga Indian Reservation in Temecula, California, to the glee of about 250 tribal youth members, parents, teachers, and coaches.

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