After last night, we expected the Lakers' faithful to come out in full force with excuses of what happened last night. So I scoured every LA newspaper to find out who would stand firmly behind their "beloved" Los Angeles Lakers.
And low and behold, here's what I found.
From ATH and LA Times Columnist, Bill Plaschke:
“You know how Los Angeles fans are famously criticized for leaving games early. Add Kobe Bryant to their list. He walked off the court with three seconds remaining as the Lakers were bringing up the ball for a final shot. It was a most egregious act for a most valuable player.
When asked afterward how his team was going to recover from this loss, Bryant said, "Lot of wine, lot of beer, lot of shots, like 20 of them."
They didn't choke. By definition, when one chokes, there is noise, movement, desperation. The Lakers didn't choke. They blew the NBA Finals without making a sound. They botched their entire season while standing still.
They lost a 24-point lead—the biggest collapse in the NBA Finals in at least 37 years—by staring dreamily into the hardened eyes of a Boston Celtics team that angrily shoved them into next fall.
Choke? On Thursday night in front of a Staples Center crowd whose early cheers lapsed into a stunned and horrified silence, the Celtics' 97-91 victory was more like a smote.
From a Lakers fan who witnessed the downward spiral:
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-Andy B, on the Lakers' loss yesterday
From LA Daily Times columnist Steve Dilbeck:
“And make no mistake, it's over. These Finals are all over. Only the final date on the death certificate awaits. The Celtics ripped the Lakers' hearts out Thursday. Left them cursing into the night, staggering off the floor, wondering how it could have possibly all slipped away.
Boston leads the series 3-1 and is secure in knowing this: No team in NBA history has every blown a 3-1 Finals lead. Not in the previous 61 years. "It's not over," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "This series is not over."
Only numerically, Phil. Otherwise, the Celtics won their title Thursday with their Undertaker-like return from death with a truly gutsy performance that will enter the ranks of some of their historic greats.
Now here's my take on this year's Finals. It has been a pretty good series to say the least. It took the Celtics to down the juggernaut of offensive, known as the Lakers. Los Angeles didn't choke. They got a flat tire, and their jack wasn't in the trunk with the spare.
Kobe Bryant showed his true colors last night, though. So in defense of NY Rockwood, MJ would never have done what Kobe did last night. Even in defeat, Jordan would have kept playing...all the way to the final horn.
Kobe decided that with three seconds left, the game was already over. The only person that hasn't bought into the hype that it is over is Phil Jackson.
But it was Phil Jackson that said that the series will change in LA. He was right. Jackson blamed the altitude, the start time, and the officials for the first two games, and said that things will different in Los Angeles. He was right about that, too. But so far, he has been a pure bust. And deja vu is on the horizon.
No matter how many championships he won with the Bulls and Lakers, he still had something to prove. Unfortunately, Kevin Garnett had something more to prove. So did Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. So did Doc Rivers.
So did the entire Boston Celtics organization.
The Lakers had the "best player of this generation." Wrong. They had the best coach of this era. Wrong. This was the year that the Lakers would finally succeed in their quest to win the NBA Championship. Wrong. Wrong. Dead wrong.
This may be premature, but it's true. Boston is just a heartbeat away from officially raising the 17th NBA Championship banner. They are a heartbeat away from giving the Boston Three Party exactly what they have been wanting their entire careers: their first NBA Championship.
And for the first time in my sports writing career, I am cheering for Boston. I didn't cheer for the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI. I didn't cheer for the Red Sox in the 2004 World Series.
But I am cheering for these Celtics in these Finals. And who wouldn't. This has been the resurrection of "The Year of the Underdogs." The Giants. The Tigers. The Penguins. The Bulldogs. Could the Celtics be next to add their name to that list?
If you're asking a Magic 8-Ball, I bet that "All Signs Point to Yes." And if you are having doubts, just ask the Lakers faithful. Because it's clear that 90 percent of them are already thinking about football season and the Raiders.
Again, Game 5 is Sunday night in Los Angeles. If Boston wins, the celebration and the riot start at midnight.
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5 months ago
Wow. Copying and pasting from "real" writers is a poor excuse for an article.
L.A. beat writer's aren't "Lakers faithful", they cover the Lakers because that's where they live. Anyone who follows the NBA knows that 3-1 is a terminal illness, but the fact that sports analysts are admitting reality has no bearing on how real Lakers faithful feel about their team.
Not only did you fail you come up with one original thought, but your article is fundamentally wrong and the headline is ridiculously misleading.
from 5 months ago
Chad. Your poor excuse for a silver lining in the Dark Cloud that is called the Los Angeles Lakers was the real bad one. And if you have fans saying that Boston should just win on Sunday 'in Staples,' then maybe you should just wake up and smell the Boston Coffee. Sorry, this was my therapy to your therapy. I wonder who paid for it more: You or Me?
I'm saying what everyone is already saying: This series is over. Don't blame me for stating the obvious.
from 5 months ago
Don't blame you for stating the obvious? You didn't state jack. You copied and pasted what other writers stated. Congrats, you got the top spot in the NBA section of The Bleacher Report without one shred of original content.
Nice to see the Celtics "faithful" coming out for the first time in 20 years, and with so much insight too.
from 5 months ago
Hey Chad,
The Celtics faithful have been coming out for the last twenty years. The fake Garden was filled with something like 17,000 fans per game last year. A year, I remind you, that the Celtics were the worst team in the league.
At least the Celtics have faithful fans. The Staples Center is a sorry excuse for a basketball arena. It's quiet, no atmosphere, and filled with bandwagon celebrities who are only there to get their sorry mugs on TV.
A Laker fan attacking Celtics fans is absolutely laughable. You're the only team in the league who has fans jump off the bandwagon four games into the NBA Finals. I understand it's hard to root for a mostly European, soft team that consists of a selfish jerk of a star player, a seven foot tall wimp and a guy named Sasha...but don't take it out on us!
from 5 months ago
People get confused because they watch Lakers games on TV and see a bunch of celebrities and posers. Real Lakers fans can't afford to get into the games!
from 5 months ago
Sure, some can't afford it. But some find it far too tempting to give up their tickets for a nice pile of cash. They should be embarrassed and banished to Laker fan obscurity.
5 months ago
If you firmly disagree with this then, by all means, find some evidence to the contrary. I live in Southern CA and it's been damn quiet.
You know the best way to tell? Drive up and down the 5 or 405 and tell me you see as many Laker flags as you saw a week ago. Either Celtics fans went around and snatched off of every Hummer and Escalade or Laker fans are throwing in the towel...err, flag I guess you could say.
But, come on, I'm not sure Laker fans were ever fully invested in this series after game 1 and 2. Game 4 at Staples was - at best - a high school pep rally in the first half and a deader than dead funeral in the second.
5 months ago
Just wanted to mention. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are playing in their first finals and they want a Championship more than the Lakers.
5 months ago
Have to admit, after last night's game, it's gonna be hard for the Lakers to show up sunday. They had that game, lock, stock and barrel. And then they salted it away, finally losing it.
Right now, about the only thing that can save the Lakers, is having a legendary run, 3 straight games, including two in Boston.....I wouldn't want to bet on it, but would Vegas even have a line on this game?
For the record, old school Celtics fan, back to the days of Bird, McHale, and the Chief.....was hard some of those years, watching players march in and out....Have to give props to Pierce for sticking it out....his reward is in sight.
5 months ago
I just wanted to say that as a Lakers fan I have NOT thrown in the towel. And not all Lakers fan are bandwagon fans. I've stuck with the Lakers my entire life. You might say that easy because near the beginning of my sport's consciousness we had the 3-peat. But what about the years in between? When I was still living in Los Angeles I went to as many games as I could afford to (Whoever mentioned that the real Lakers can't afford to go to the games was right on) and even after I moved to Ohio for school I found a way to watch every single season game. I went to countless sports bar to pay way to much for food when the game wasn't nationally televised. And I wore my Lakers jersey, waved my Lakers flags, and supported my team in a state where LeBron James is King and I got shit for it every single day. I endured every single rapist, deadbeat, horrible joke and banter out there but I never backed down. I'm not saying I'm some sort of amazing person or that anyone should look up to me for supporting my team from 2500 miles away. I'm simply providing one case, that is among many, of a real Lakers fan. So please, say whatever you want about us real fans, but please stop stereotyping all Los Angeles fan to be bandwagon celebrities who just want "their mug on TV." Because that is not even close to the full story.
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