On Saturday, Nov. 26, the Lakers concluded their month-long community program, Building Bridges with Basketball. The program was constructed with goal of uniting members of the Los Angeles Police department with community members around the game of basketball. While together, members from both groups had the opportunity to engage in discussions and forge lasting relationships built to extend long past their time on the court.
Each Saturday in November members of the community met with LAPD officers to run 5-on-5 with two of the runs taking place at the Lakers practice facility. There, all participants had the opportunity to see where the Lakers play, and got to put test their skills on the Lakers court. The 5-on-5 pickup games were made up of integrated teams comprised of officers and community members.
Lakers legend James Worthy took time to come out and speak to the group as well as Lakers players Tarik Black, Nick Young and Metta World Peace. Each player engaged with the participants and spoke about the importance of respect, while encouraging the group to carry their friendships along with them off the court and into the community.