Crypto.com Arena had to be evacuated after Lakers-Warriors Game 4

An exterior look at an entrance to Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. January 6, 2023. Photo Credit: Larry Brown/Larry Brown Sports

There was a slight commotion at Crypto.com Arena following Monday’s Game 4 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors.

Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, one of the reporters covering the game, tweeted out that everyone was asked to evacuate the building afterwards. Spears’ tweet about the evacuation order came roughly an hour after the final buzzer sounded.

Claudia Gestro, another reporter on site, shared the rumor circulating around the press room that a suspicious message had allegedly been posted to Twitter. Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports, who was covering the contest too, tweeted similarly that “apparently [there’s] some sort of threat.”

No further details were given on the reason behind the evacuation.

The Lakers won the game 104-101 to go up 3-1 in the series. The matchup is generating an insane amount of buzz as it is pitting two marquee NBA teams (as well as two generational players in LeBron James and Stephen Curry) against each other. Game 3 of the series averaged 8.3 million viewers and peaked at 9.7 million viewers (per Nielsen). Many A-list celebrities have also been in attendance at the games (Jack Nicholson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Chris Pratt, and Kim Kardashian were among those who were at Game 4).

Though the game was already over at that point, these types of large-scale evacuations are rare at NBA arenas. Another such incident occurred in the Eastern Conference last season.