Larry Brown Sports

Pau Gasol’s brother Adria had words for Lakers fans as the team was getting demolished in Game 3 of their series with the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

Adria, who is known for speaking his mind, tweeted in response to Lakers fans turning on the team:

People at Staples act like they’re forced to be here.

— Adrià Gasol (@AdriaGasol) April 27, 2013

The fans were getting rowdy as the team was getting routed. Fans began chanting “We want Phil!” while the team was getting blown out, which was a call for the team to making a coaching change from Mike D’Antoni to Phil Jackson. Someone should probably break it to the fans gently that Phil probably wouldn’t have much interest in this aging, injury-depleted roster.

One thing we’re seeing is how spoiled Lakers fans are. Since 2000, the team has won five titles and lost in two NBA Finals. The fans are used to seeing the team compete for an NBA title, so watching the team get swept to end a disappointing season has left many of them bitter. But fans should realize that if this is as bad as it gets in Laker land, it’s still much much better than what most fan bases deal with.

The Los Angeles Lakers dug themselves into a massive hole with a blowout loss to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 3 on Friday night — one that they likely will not climb out of. The Lakers have disappointed their fans all season long, but as anticipated they have looked particularly lost without Kobe Bryant. Injuries have been the team’s biggest issue, but that hasn’t stopped the fans from blaming head coach Mike D’Antoni.

As Friday night’s 120-89 loss came to a close, Lakers fans were heard chanting “we want Phil!” I doubt Phil Jackson would have much more success with the current LA roster, but the fans never see it that way.

No matter where he goes, D’Antoni can’t seem to escape the chants for the Zen Master. When the New York Knicks were struggling last year under D’Antoni, fans chanted the same thing. I guess it’s a step above calling for him to simply be fired, but it’s tough to constantly coach in the shadow of Jackson. The Lakers had another shot at Phil but they decided to go with D’Antoni. Like it or not, the fans are probably stuck with it for another year.

Mark Cuban has made plenty of anti-Lakers comments over the years, but he wasn’t in the mood to do more Laker bashing prior to Saturday’s Mavericks-Lakers game in Dallas. He says the reaction from Lakers fans on Twitter has scared him straight.

“I’ve said enough about the Lakers,” Cuban said on Saturday, per the Dallas Morning News. “Let’s just say, when you say something bad about the Lakers, you get a ton of Twitter threats, so it’s just not worth it.

“There is more Twitter courage in Southern California than probably any other part of the world. I could say ‘Kobe tied his shoe laces wrong’ and I’d probably get death threats on Twitter.”

Instead of providing fresh quotes for the media, Cuban told writers to copy and paste what he said about the Lakers in October. Back then, the Mavericks owner says he hoped the Lakers would suck. He says he still feels that way.

The Lakers got revenge on the Mavs. After losing to them 99-91 in their season opener, they won 115-89 on Saturday.

I understand where Cuban is coming from. There are some fan bases that get so offended by comments that they will respond by making your life miserable with non-stop Twitter comments. Of course, Cuban just probably gave his haters more fuel to continue their threats now that they know it works.

The Los Angeles Lakers went 0-8 in the preseason and are 0-2 to start the regular season, but Kobe Bryant says now is not the time to panic. In fact, the five-time champion says those who are questioning the team’s slow start are being “stupid.”

“I’m always surprised when I lose,” Bryant said on Thursday, via the LA Times. “At the same time, it [the panic] is pretty entertaining to me. Nobody wants to win here more than I do. Nobody. Nobody .

“And I’m not panicking over it. Or jumping off a bridge because we’re 0-2 or whatever.”

Many people have already begun criticizing the team’s new Princeton offense. Bryant thinks the media and fans should trust the team and not worry about a few early-season losses.

“I just … I don’t understand .. the city here,” Bryant said. “They’ve seen us win multiple championships here, playing an offense that was tough to learn that was a sequence of options that weren’t set plays that took five guys being on the same page of working together,” referring to Jackson’s triangle offense.

“They know how that stuff works. For them to be so stupid now ….”

Not only are the Lakers getting used to a new offense, they’re also getting used to a new lineup. It’s the first season for the Lakers with Dwight Howard at center and Steve Nash at point guard. Things aren’t gelling as quickly for them as they did for the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics which won the title in their first year with Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. A better comparison might be the 2010-2011 Miami Heat which went 9-8 and needed about a month before figuring things out.

The Lakers have far too many great players to not be an excellent team. They will figure things out, and they will start winning. But I also don’t think they’re properly utilizing their players right now — namely Steve Nash — and that they will be at a disadvantage until they start doing so. I also don’t think they will win the title this season. That will go to Miami in a repeat. Just don’t tell Kobe that.

Ever wondered what the site of Jack Nicholson’s burial might look like? What type of tomb does a celebrity like Jack want to be buried in? What types of ornaments does he wish to have decorating his grave site? The tomb of Arthur Young, a young man from Belize who was shot and killed after an argument while he was still in high school, may help paint that picture for us. Check out this photo of his Lakers grave, courtesy of NBCLosAngeles.com via Pro Basketball Talk:

Young was a top prospect when he played high school basketball in Belize, and obviously as big a Lakers fan as you will ever hear about.  We’re no strangers to fans cooking in caskets at a tailgate party or rolling up to a game in a tricked-out hearse, but this grave site shows true dedication from a person whose death was clearly tragic and sudden.

When I called them “Faker Fans” a few years ago, this is exactly what I had in mind. While the hardcore fans are sitting in the 300 level or watching the game at home with friends or at the bar, you have the Hollywood-type, Faker Fans misrepresenting the Lakers fan base.

The AP recap of the Lakers 104-99 Game 1 win over the Jazz noted that most fans discarded the t-shirt they were given at the gate. Fans were supposed to put on the shirt to show unity and support of the Lakers. As the Associated Press noticed and as anyone watching could tell, the fans in the arena were hardly clad in white. Why is that the case? Because attending a Laker game is every bit as much a Hollywood scene and fashion show as it is a chance to support a team and watch a basketball game. Any wonder why many other fan bases can’t stand the Lakers and have difficulty relating to them? Go to most other arenas — Miami, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City — and you’ll find fan bases decked out in the giveaway shirts to support their teams. In LA, you don’t see that.

What makes matters even more confusing is the thought process behind giving away white shirts to fans at Staples Center for a Lakers game. First off, they turn the lights out in the crowds and focus the spotlights solely on the hardwood during games, so it wouldn’t even matter if fans were wearing the shirt. Secondly, the whole “white out” thing is played out. If you’re going to do the t-shirt thing, at least make it gold or even purple for Lakers fans. Not that it would make any difference for the Hollywood type that waste space in the lower bowl anyway.

Sources:
Kobe rallies Lakers past Jazz in 2nd-round opener [AP/Yahoo! Sports]
Photo Credits: Getty Images, Getty Images