The team moniker was taken as a reference for the province's proximity to Laguna de Baý, a similar action taken by the then-Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association.

The Lakers of coach Bonnie Garcia were paraded by former University of Manila stars Biboy Simon and Jovy Sese, Manuel Luis Quezon University standout Wynne Arboleda and the former Letran Knights high-flying Mike Garcia, known for wearing different shoe colors and his dunks.

Laguna was renamed as the FedEx-Laguna Lakers for the 2001 season but lost to San Juan in the playoffs for the third-straight time.

The development led to the Lina group's departure from the MBA to concentrate on their new PBA franchise, which became named as the FedEx Express.

The MBA, as a result, lost its Laguna franchise and one of its biggest sponsors, FedEx, before closing shop at the middle of the 2002 season.