Staples Is Coming! (Please Vote This Month)

"Deal." Dr. Buss, his face flushed with excitement, happily shook hands with Phil Anschutz, the billionaire owner of Anschutz Entertainment, as well as Los Angeles city officials.

The titans of business and figures from the political world had finally reached an agreement.

Anschutz had acquired the Los Angeles Kings in 1995 and began searching for a new arena for the team in 1996.

When Steve Soboroff, chairman of the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Commission, contacted Anschutz, Soboroff asked them to consider building an arena in downtown Los Angeles near the convention center. The proposal caught Roski and Anschutz's attention, and plans to develop the arena were soon drafted.

And the Lakers' outstanding performances over the past two years had prompted Anschutz to include them in the plans for the new arena as well!

Finally! After the Lakers repeatedly broke records, Anschutz, old Buss, and city officials entered months of negotiations.

In the end, the developers and city leaders reached an agreement!

The new arena would be privately financed at a cost of $375 million and named after Staples, Inc., the office-supplies company that was among the sponsors paying for the center's naming rights.

"You know, if it weren't for Kobe, those vampires would've demanded even more!" Anschutz said to old Buss with a wink.

"The Lakers' recent success was crucial to securing this prime downtown location for us!"

The new Staples arena would sit next to the L.A. Live development, beside the Los Angeles Convention Center complex on Figueroa Street. This was unquestionably prime real estate in Los Angeles!

"We will bring in the best arena in the world!" Buss declared before the media.

"Kobe, we're getting a new arena!" The Lakers' locker room had been buzzing with the topic lately.

"Staples." Kobe raised his head, a strange glint