World-class L.A. sports and entertainment venue, the STAPLES Centre, is celebrating its 20th anniversary! Located in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles and is the home stadium to four L.A. sporting teams; the NBA Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, the NHL Los Angeles Kings and the WNBA Los Angeles Sparks.
Since opening its doors on 17 October 1999, the centre has hosted countless events from professional sports and boxing matches to the annual GRAMMY Awards. It has welcomed more than 4 million guests each year, cementing L.A.’s status as the epicentre of sport and entertainment.
We’ve pulled together the top 5 most iconic moments in the STAPLES Centre history, which we thought could make a nice gallery or round up:
4th June 2000- Kobe to Shaq Alley-Oop:
The alley-oops between future Hall of Famers Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal are among the most memorable in all of basketball. But the one that stands out took place at STAPLES Center in Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals. With just over 40 seconds to play, Bryant lobbed the ball to O’Neal, who threw down a monster dunk, putting the Lakers up 85-79 and sending the crowd into pandemonium.
8th February, 2004: Prince & Beyoncé Open the GRAMMY Awards: The 46th Annual GRAMMY Awards opened with an electrifying performance by Prince and Beyoncé.The superstars sang three songs from “Purple Rain” and an interlude with Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love.”
3rd April 2005, WrestleMania 21: The first ever WWE WrestleMania events was held at the STAPLES Centre, with tickets selling out in less than one minute – the fastest in WrestleMania history!
22nd January 2006- Kobe Bryant Scores 81 Points:
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored a career-high 81 points in a victory against the Toronto Raptors.
1st August 2006, Travis Pastrana’s Double Backflip: At X Games 12, Travis Pastrana landed a spectacular Double Backflip – the first one ever on a motorcycle. Pastrana scored a 98.60, the highest score in the Best Trick competition at the X Games.
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