Lakers To Return $4.6M In Federal Loans Meant For Small Businesses
The Los Angeles Lakers is returning $4.6 million in federal loans that were allotted for small businesses affected by the coronavirus.
According to CNBC, the Lakers, one of the richest teams, were the only NBA team to have applied for the loan under the payroll protection program. According to reports, they have returned the money after learning that the pool of federal lending assistance from the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program has been drained of funds due to the high demand from small businesses around the country.
“The Lakers qualified for and received a loan under the Payroll Protection Program. However, once we found out the funds from the program had been depleted, we repaid the loan so that financial support would be directed to those most in need,” the team said CNBC in a statement.
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“The Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and our community.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin spoke about the loan on Tuesday, adding that he was surprised that the Lakers would even attempt to apply for the loan.
“I’m not a big fan of the fact that they took $4.6 million,” Mnuchin said to CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I think that’s outrageous.”
According to Forbes, The Lakers were the second most-valuable team in the National Basketball Association going into 2020 and were valued at $4.4 billion.