According to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, the Los Angeles Lakers will ask select members of its senior-level executive staff to voluntarily defer 20 per cent of their salaries to shield lesser-income employees from having to take a pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic.

The second-most valuable franchise in the NBA worth an estimated $4.4 billion, the Lakers' plan for salary deferment is similar to when the league reduced base salaries by 20 per cent for approximately 100 of its top-earning executives, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Wojnarowski also reports that the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association are considering withholding up to 25 per cent of players' remaining salaries in a league escrow in the event regular-season games are cancelled.

In March, the Lakers, Clippers, Kings and the Staples Center created a fund with more than $5 million to financially support an estimated 2,800 employees who depend on income from working games and concerts.