Monday, November 9, 1998
L.A. Laker fans should not dis their players, team’s talents
COLUMN: Squad doesn’t deserve ridicule because they haven’t made
Finals
I must ask myself one simple question: Do the L.A. Lakers have
the worst fans in the NBA?
It seems like it.
Even with the NBA lock-out still on, people are still putting
down the Lakers.
First let’s get one thing straight: I am not a Lakers fan. Sorry
to say, I like the Clippers (even though I shouldn’t make that
public) and have no love for the Lakers.
But why the constant dogging of a continuously winning team?
Just because they haven’t made it to the NBA Finals doesn’t mean
they are a bad team.
They just are not old enough. They have not had time to gel.
Look at the Western Conference representatives: the Utah Jazz.
The Jazz are an older, more-experienced team that had to struggle
with all the doubts when they couldn’t make it to the Finals. But
they finally gelled to become one of the premiere teams.
So get off the Lakers’ back!
Eddie Jones is one of the best young rising stars in the NBA, so
why does the media keep reminding him that he has not done well in
the playoffs?
So what. Give the guy a break. Are you going to tell me next
that Barry Bonds should not make the Hall-of-Fame because he can’t
hit worth crap in the playoffs, and that Scott Brosius should?
One L.A. Times writer said that Jones, after not being spotted
in any Laker shoot-arounds during the lock-out, was now
disappearing before the season too. If my memory serves me, Jones
was an All Star last year and carried the team in plenty of
games.
Why blast on a key member of the team? And this is before the
season even starts.
The media and fans in Los Angeles must have been spoiled by the
Showtime years in the ’80s. Well, the ’80s are over, like new-wave
hairdos and Van Halen.
A third of the arena was empty last year when Elden Campbell
blew up the spot against the New York Knicks and the game went into
double overtime.
Now that was a game. But did the Los Angeles fans stay to
watch?
Not many. Melrose Place was on.
Damn, why leave a game when anything can happen in the fourth
quarter?
Why criticize a team that is one of the elite year in and year
out? Because they cannot take home the big one.
But Los Angeles should cherish this team. It is so Los
Angeles.
The L.A. Lakers should have a show like the Real World because
their team is so Hollywood.
Last year was the Nick Van Exel (the Puck of the Real World)
escapades.
You also have Superman (a.k.a. Shaq).
This year the Mod Squad goes into action: Eddie Jones, Kobe
Bryant and Derek Fisher.
This is the year for which every fan should have been waiting on
the edge of their seat . Instead of criticism, there should be
applause for the Lakers for acquiring Tony Battie, an important
rebounder.
This would have been the year the Lakers made it to the Big
Dance.
But like party crashers, L.A. fans and the media want to lower
the roof on the Lakers.
When the Lakers move to Staples Arena, the time will be perfect
for everyone in Los Angeles to change their ways towards the gold
and purple team.
No more leaving at the start of the fourth quarter. No more
being so quiet when your team is playing that crickets can be heard
from Saugus.
No more booing the team like they had just pulled a Chuck
Knoblauch.
Be proud, Los Angeles. Be proud the Lakers win so often and are
so talented.
If not, then go to the Sports Arena and watch the Clippers. That
will make you appreciate the purple and gold.
Salmon is a football beat writer who picked the Clippers to win
it all in Vegas. E-mail him at [email protected].
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