Thousands gather for Lakers parade
June 18, 2009
LOS ANGELES (AP)—The streets of downtown were transformed into a sea ofpurple and gold on Wednesday as tens of thousands of joyous Los Angeles Lakersfans joined their team in a raucous but mostly peaceful celebration of its 15thNBA championship.
Taking a time-out from work or unemployment, 95,000 people filled the LosAngeles Memorial Coliseum to give a hero’s welcome to players and coaches, whowere showered with purple and gold confetti as the Randy Newman song “I LoveL.A.” blared from loudspeakers.
Tens of thousands more fans lined a 2 1/2 -mile parade route, standing 20 ormore deep beneath bright sunshine to cheer as double-decker buses carried theteam to the stadium.
“Thank you for all the support, baby. We love you. Let’s go, Lakers,”veteran guard Derek Fisher(notes), one of the heroes of the NBA Finals, shouted to fansalong the route.
Reserve Sasha Vujacic(notes) happily snapped photos and star forward Lamar Odom(notes)tweeted, “Wow! This is crazy!”
At the stadium, the Laker Girls danced on a hardwood floor that was moved tothe Coliseum from Staples Center, the team’s home court.
“We are humbled by your devotion and appreciation to us,” said coach PhilJackson, who thanked his girlfriend, Jeannie Buss, the daughter of team ownerJerry Buss, for talking him into returning as coach after he left the team for ayear after the 2004 season.
Parades and rallies celebrating Lakers championships have been a traditionin Los Angeles since the teams led by Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbarbegan winning titles with regularity in the 1980s.
But none were as big, loud or celebratory as this one, which came after downyears endured since the team’s last championship in 2002.
“This is more special because we went through so many dark years,” saidBryant, who played on Jackson-coached, title-winning teams in 2000, 2001 and2002.
With Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar and other stars past and present looking on,Bryant led the crowd at the stadium in a chant that he said the players shoutedbefore, during and after every game this year as they fought for the title.
“I want everybody to say ‘ring’ on three,” Bryant said. “One, two, three… ” The crowd responded.
Then he and his high-fiving, body-bumping teammates embraced in a briefcircle dance.
“It’s a great thing to be a part of,” said Letitcia Gutierrez, who watchedthe parade while squeezed against a chain-link fence separating fans from thebuses carrying the players.
“We got passion and motivation. We’re rowdy,” she said.
Some in the crowd got a little too rowdy, including a group that was shutout of the celebration when the Coliseum filled to capacity. Dozens of peoplewho tried to enter by climbing over a ticket booth were turned back by police onhorseback and in riot gear. Some officers fired beanbags into the crowd.
In all, 15 people were arrested, police said. Several cases of heatexhaustion were the only injuries reported.
Police Chief William J. Bratton said at least 1,700 officers, some inplainclothes, kept watch on the crowd.
Fan Michael Sims arrived before dawn with his brother, sister, niece andnephews to ensure they would get seats inside the Coliseum.
“Who would miss this? This is magical,” said the 45-year-old Sims, who hasbeen cheering the Lakers since the days of Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar.
In the days before the event, much was made of its estimated $2 millioncost, with critics complaining that a city a half-billion dollars in debt andfacing layoffs could not afford the celebration.
But private donors joined the team and the owners of Staples Center tounderwrite most of the cost. It was the first of at the four Laker victoryparades this decade to be privately funded.
Associated Press Sports Writer Beth Harris contributed to this story.
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