The Los Angeles Lakers are worth a few billion dollars and have a chunky television deal, so they certainly are not what we would think of as a small business. They’re not a mom and pop operation.

But they received $4.6 million from the federal government, money which was meant for small businesses trying to survive the COVID-19 pandemic.

From ESPN:

The Lakers, one of the NBA’s most profitable franchises, applied for relief through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, and were among the companies and nonprofits granted loans during the first round of distributions. But after reports that several large or highly capitalized entities were securing aid from the program’s initial $349 billion pool — while hundreds of thousands of smaller businesses were shut out — the Lakers said they returned the money.

“The Lakers qualified for and received a loan under the Payroll Protection Program,” the Lakers said in a statement to ESPN. “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 Lakers remain completely committed to supporting both our employees and our community.”

The program, which was established as part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act and launched on April 3, enables small businesses to apply for and receive loans to cover employee salaries and other expenses. As a business with about 300 employees, the Lakers were eligible for a PPP loan, which is forgivable so long as the recipient spends 75% of the amount on payroll and doesn’t fire anyone.

Kyle has written about this, and the topic is more of his territory, but you probably recall the PPP ran out of money about two weeks after it launched. Shake Shack got a $10 million loan and said they’d return the cash, same as the Lakers. With round two of the program beginning this week, the small business administration is asking these types of businesses, which have better access to liquidity and credit, not to apply.

Of course, sports teams’ revenue generating has ground to a halt right now. And just because you’re valued at a certain amount doesn’t mean that’s liquid you can use to address immediate financial concerns. That’s why the Sixers’ owners and other franchises have implemented furloughs and salary reductions and other similar measures.

Still, the fact that the Lakers would even qualify for the program seems…. really weird from an optics standpoint.