Celtics die-hard (or should I say supposed Celtics die-hard) Bill Simmons attended a Laker playoff game and wrote a typically long column about his experience. Here’s an interesting bit on the three different types of Laker fans:
The inherent problem with any Lakers game: There are three types of Lakers fans, so the balance of any crowd depends on Type A and Type C overriding Type B. Type A would be the die-hards — mostly middle or lower class, populating the upper levels of the arena as well as the higher corner seats. These are the ones who attend championship parades, stick flags on their cars, wear jerseys to games and defend Kobe to the death. They are my mortal enemies, and I love when they are unhappy … but I respect their passion. Type C would be the wealthy die-hards — upper class, connected, and in many cases, family-owned season-ticket holders since the days of Magic/Kareem or even West/Baylor — only it’s a disproportionately large group compared with any other NBA city except New York. I don’t mind these fans unless they are giving their tickets to Spaulding Smails-type relatives, which happens more than you think. They always return for the playoffs, just one reason why those games are always better.
The wheels come off with Type B: wannabe die-hards, locals there to be seen, couples showing up late and leaving early, C-list celebrities, agents or producers jabbering with clients and ignoring the game … it’s everything I hate about Los Angeles in a nutshell. Every negative impression of a Lakers fan comes from the Type B’s, who tend to cluster for weekend games and Game 7s — anything that’s a difficult ticket — so instead of “Night of the Living Dead,” it’s “Night of the Living Pseudo-Fan.” The worst possible Lakers crowd? Any Finals game. It’s mostly Hollywoodites who called in favors or paid big bucks; the real fans get shoved into the upper decks or priced out entirely. (Important note: I will always believe that the 2008 Celtics won Game 4 of the Finals because it wasn’t a typical Lakers crowd.) If you want to have a sports experience with a healthy amount of L.A. sprinkled in, you want to attend a Lakers playoff game during the week. You get the highest percentage of real fans that way.
I live in Newport Beach, so I’ve run into my fair share of Laker fans, but it’s usually at a sports bar. Type B fans are the worst; they’re front runners and extremely annoying. They’re the ones that pop a Laker flag on their window when the team has a shot at the title, but in the post-Shaq years that flag was sitting in the trunk.
Simmons goes on to discuss why Laker fans are irritating:
1. The constant gushing over Kobe.
2. The unwavering collective belief that any time Kobe misses, this absolutely means he was fouled.
3. The unwavering collective belief that any time Kobe gets whistled for a foul or a turnover, he definitely didn’t do it.
4. Everyone’s willingness to overlook the two or three times per game when Kobe blatantly shows up one of his teammates or sells them out with a nasty look.
I witnessed all of these firsthand when I went to the Bucks/Lakers game earlier this year. Plus, the guy behind me wouldn’t shut up. Ridiculous.
Photo from fOTOGLIF
