Today the Los Angeles Lakers and their fans celebrated our 16th NBA championship!
As a new fan, I was ecstatic to see a team for which I cheer win the championship! For years, I have had a championship jinx including watching the Lakers lose against the Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals after having a 20 point lead and the Dodgers giving up their lead late in a game vs. the Phillies in the playoffs in 2008.
I am still loyal to the Clippers, but it is hard to be a Clippers fan. I added the Lakers as one of my teams in 2008. I am optimistic for the Clippers with the additions of this year’s draft picks plus two other promising draft picks from 2009 (Blake Griffin) and 2003 (24 year old Sofoklis Schortsanitis a dominant center from Greece). One of my favorite rumors has been that David Geffen will buy 51% of the Clippers so that Lebron James might sign here (something that probably won’t happen if Donald Sterling remains majority owner).
As hard as it was to add the Lakers to my list of favorite teams, it was worth the criticism from my family and friends across the country because now I have a team that actually can win it all!
All that to say, every team has some great people and some people who are hard to cheer for. I realize the Lakers are that way as well. For every Derek Fisher there is a Kobe Bryant. For every Pau Gasol there is a Ron Artest. Sometimes the person you love is the person who lets you down. There is a fine line between hero and villain!
In life though, the same is true. We all have moments of regret and heroism.
Ultimately, cheering for the Lakers reminds me that together we are certainly better than we are on our own.
Check out these (sometimes hilarious) Lakers celebration pictures.
