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Notebook Lakers fans risk looking 'uncool' in showing support
Posted: Thursday June 08, 2000 12:10 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In a town where sports fans are known for arriving fashionably late and leaving fashionably early, the hubbub surrounding Staples Center on Wednesday night was almost, well, uncool. Three hours before tipoff of Game 1 of the NBA Finals, fans milled about the streets around the year-old arena, shouting slogans and exchanging high-fives. Most wore some form of Lakers garb, and there was no shortage of purple-and-gold painted faces. The Lakers, in the Finals for the first time since 1991, became Los Angeles' favorite team with five championships during the Magic Johnson era. Lakers fever cooled for several years as the team struggled to rebuild in the 1990s, but now "it's back, and it's better than ever," said fan Bryan Tracer of Tustin. "They're really the only winning team in L.A. sports right now," he said. "This is a big city, and big cities love winners." The best seats were selling for upwards of $1,000 on Figueroa Street hours before the game. But most scalpers didn't have much to sell, and many were bartering among themselves for the few ducats available. A local country music radio station stashed two luxury box tickets at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, the fictional residence of the spooky family in the 1960s TV show "The Munsters" on the Universal Studios backlot. The station gave clues all morning to the location of the tickets, and Harold Oaks of La Habra won them. As it has all season, Lakers mania injected life into Los Angeles' downtown, which for years has closed down at the end of the business day. Cafes and restaurants in the downtown financial district, just blocks away from Staples Center, were buzzing with life into the evening. Inside the building, there was no shortage of celebrity faces. Usual suspects Jack Nicholson, Dyan Cannon, Penny Marshall, Donald Sutherland and Chris Rock were all in attendance, while DreamWorks moguls Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg split a large plate of nachos at their courtside seats. Actor Edward Norton attended with girlfriend Salma Hayek, who sported a bright purple wig. Rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg wore a Magic Johnson jersey and shook hands with Stu Jackson, appointed earlier this week to replace Rod Thorn in the NBA's front office. Other celebrities in attendance included actors Matthew Perry, Mark Cooper and Michael Clarke Duncan; Cypress Hill rapper B-Real; television producer David E. Kelley and movie producer Peter Guber. R&B girl group Destiny's Child sang four-part harmony on the national anthem. Behind the paceOne of the Pacers' two team buses didn't arrive at Staples Center until 5:05 p.m. PDT, about an hour before tipoff. The bus was carrying coach Larry Bird and point guards Mark Jackson and Travis Best, among others. The first team bus, which was carrying Reggie Miller, arrived at 4:45 p.m. Indiana is staying at a hotel in Santa Monica during the Finals, giving them a treacherous drive through L.A. rush hour traffic to reach the arena. The late arrival may have contributed to Indiana's slow start. The Pacers came out sluggishly and fell behind 33-18 in the first quarter, giving up 15 points to Shaquille O'Neal.
Betting manThe bet has been made. Now the mayor of Indianapolis is predicting how long it will take for him to collect. "I have no intention of wearing a Lakers jersey at anytime in the future," Mayor Bart Peterson said hours before Game 1. "And since I made a wager with the mayor of Los Angeles and the loser has to wear a jersey of the other team, I can guarantee you that means the Pacers are going to win." Peterson spoke in front of the City Market across the street from the Pacers' old home at Market Square Arena. He proclaimed June as Pacers Pride Month in Indianapolis. Peterson, who picked the Pacers to win in six games, urged all Indiana fans to wear the team's blue and gold colors on game days and announced plans for a downtown rally before Game 3 in Conseco Fieldhouse on Sunday. The mayor also said work crews already are sprucing up the downtown area in anticipation of the visitors coming to town for the series, as well as a huge international television audience. Selected downtown crosswalks and curbs will be painted blue and gold, and the downtown canal already has been dyed blue. Peterson also had a warning for Pacers fans who might celebrate too hard. "We will be prepared, as soon as the Pacers are victorious in this series, in the event there is excessive celebration. We don't expect it. ... I'm very confident our good fans will be a model for the rest of the country and the rest of the world in how to behave when you win the championship," the mayor said.
Loose ballsThree of NBC announcer Bill Walton's sons -- Nathan, Chris and Luke, who plays collegiately at Arizona -- were hanging around the Pacers' locker room before the game, wearing NBC press credentials. They shook Bird's hand when the coach entered the locker room. ... Bird is trying to become just the fifth person in the history of North America's four major sports to lead his team to a championship after being elected to that sport's Hall of Fame. The other four were baseball's Rogers Hornsby and hockey greats Toe Blake, Tom Johnson and Jacques Lemaire. ... In 1991, the last time the Lakers were in the Finals, A.C. Green was their starting power forward, O'Neal was a college sophomore and Kobe Bryant was 12 years old. ... In addition to his 43 points and 19 rebounds, O'Neal's four assists were one off the Lakers' team high. His expert pass to Brian Shaw with two seconds left in the third quarter gave Shaw a wide-open 3-pointer and killed an Indiana rally. When O'Neal left the game, he was given a lengthy standing ovation, and chants of "M-V-P!" rained down from the rafters.
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