UCLA sports fans turn attention to Lakers
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 21, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 MIKE CHIEN Jason Lee and Terence
Chan watch the Lakers playoff game vs. the Spurs in Sproul
Hall Saturday afternoon.
By Adam Titcher
Daily Bruin Contributor
Heads of UCLA students peek through the doors of the dorm rooms,
wondering about the score of the game. Sports fans pile into
Madison’s and the Coop to watch the series.
And it’s not a UCLA game they’re watching.
With men’s college basketball and football over, many UCLA
fans are now turning their attention to professional
basketball.
The 2001 Los Angeles Lakers overwhelm the school and city as
defending champions of the National Basketball Association. They
have a dominating center in Shaquille O’Neal, a phenom in
Kobe Bryant and a Zen-master coach in Phil Jackson. Many fans on
campus feel a title repeat is within hands reach.
The fan base on campus includes many students and professors who
grew up in Los Angeles, but also those from other cities who
hitched a ride on the bandwagon.
“I grew up in Southern California during the
“˜Showtime’ era,” said English Professor Maurice
Lee. “It was easy to be a Lakers fan back then, and easy now,
too.”
That era, featuring Hall of Famers Earvin “Magic”
Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and many role players, dominated the
1980s. The team won five titles in nine years.
Here in Los Angeles, sports play an integral role in fan’s
lives. The Dodgers haven’t won a title in more than a decade,
although they have generally done well since moving from Brooklyn
in 1958. The Kings have suffered slumps, but have had moments of
glory as well, recently ending a Cinderella playoff run.
It seems to be the Lakers, though, who keep pleasing fans over
the years. Their neighbors to the north, the Golden State Warriors,
have not fared so well. This season they posted a 17-65 record for
second-to-last place in the league. A lot of their fans jumped on
the Lakers bandwagon because of Golden State’s failure to
improve.
“They’ll be good eventually, but it is really
disappointing,” said first-year economics student Janou Rubin
of the Oakland team. While Rubin claims to be a Bay Area fan at
heart, a level of excitement is missing from the Warriors. He gets
it with Los Angeles.
The seven shining championship trophies in the front office
testify to the greatness of the Lakers organization, which has been
winning titles since 1972. Among the Lakers’ eight Most
Valuable Players, all but Shaq have had the honor of seeing their
retired jerseys hung on high in the Staples Center.
Among the list of retirees are UCLA’s own Gail Goodrich
and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (known as Lew Alcindor during his Westwood
days). The Lakers own a piece of this town, and being a fan seems
natural.
But they weren’t always this popular. In the 1990s, NBA
fans tuned in to Michael Jordan, his Chicago Bulls and their six
titles instead of the Lakers.
“Jordan had that appeal which stuck and kept on me,”
said first-year undeclared student Daniel Tatum. “I grew up
on Jordan and he is the man.”
Tatum was raised in Southern California, but the Lakers failed
to claim him as a fan. For many UCLA students, following their
hometown team came second to being a fan of the Jordan dynasty.
But Shaq and Kobe’s 1996 arrival in Los Angeles helped
spark interest in the organization. Staples Center sells out games
nightly and celebrities make it a point to be there.
Last year, with a new arena and a new coach, the Lakers finally
brought the NBA title back to Los Angeles. Now the current unit has
the potential to win an eighth championship. Despite the rumors of
a Kobe-Shaq feud that have persisted since the preseason, the
Lakers went 56-26 in the regular season.
“Shaq assumed control of the team,” said fourth-year
psychology student Brian Cook. “They are too unstoppable, the
one-two punch with Kobe and Shaq.”
Cook is not a fan of the Lakers, but he does follow basketball.
He sees the combination of Shaq and Kobe as the reason for the
Lakers’ greatness. They are his pick to win the
championship.
But the one-two combination has yet to prove itself worthy of
another championship. Second to the San Antonio Spurs in wins in
the conference, the fight is on to see who is dominant in the West.
With two games done in the Alamodome, the Lakers return home for
games 3 and 4 with a 2-0 series advantage. They have yet to win
over some students, like Tatum. But fans like Lee and Rubin will
continue to root for them to win.
