What year did you start watching the LA Lakers?

Post #41 » by **tkb** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 12:03 pm

I collected basketball cards and for some reason started collecting Kobe cards when Kobe was a rookie, so I became a fan of his and the Lakers. So 1996 would be when I started following Laker basketball full time. I wasn't really a fan of a specific team before that, but Grant Hill was my favorite player before that, so I followed the Pistons until he got traded to Orlando. Pistons were #2 from 96 though.

bobobolas1 · Post #42 » by **bobobolas1** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 1:00 pm

I cant say ive watched lakers as much as most of you....

The first game i was able to wacth was the first game of the nba finals against the sixers of Iverson. We lost the first game and the we won 4 in a row.

Thats the first i watched but at that time, i was all the days on nba.com watching scores, stats, etc.

Here in finland, the games usually starts later than 3 am. So before that, i wacth a classic game from the 70' until the 90'. I think im in love with Dr. J. hahaha.

TommyTheCat · Post #43 » by **TommyTheCat** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 2:56 pm

went to my first lakers game in 77-78 season. my dad had good tickets and we walked down courtside and i realized how gigantic kareem really was. started following the lakers in the 79 season.

pooteeweet · Post #44 » by **pooteeweet** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 5:21 pm

I've been following the Lakers since Hector was a pup. My earliest recollection was around 79-80, I was 7 or 8 at the time. Admittedly it wasn't love at first sight, I liked baseball and football at the time, and I had little tolerance for basketball that didn't involve the Globetrotters on Scooby Doo. I gained a larger appreciation for them in the early 80's, particularly when Worthy arrived.

Kirk Moon · Post #45 » by **Kirk Moon** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 5:29 pm

ever since I saw Magic running with the ball, making one of his "out-of-this-world" passes, and smiling afterwards.

I think it was his smile that hooked me on basketball.

I was about 7, and it was almost 2 decades ago.

chefy · Post #46 » by **chefy** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 6:19 pm

That Nicka wrote:I come from a family of Laker fans... My grandpa has been watching the Lakers since they moved to Los Angeles and has seen all the greats in person... My mom and uncle are Laker fans also...

I first remember watching basketball when I was about 4 with my mom... Of course I didnt understand the game at all... I started playing basketball when I was 8-9... and I started actually watching (Laker) games during the 97-98 season, when I was 9-10 years old...

Your lucky man, my bro is an ex 76ers fan, an ex kings fan, an ex nets fan, an ex heat fan and currently hes a suns fan. my grandpa is a bandwagon laker fan, dad is magic johnson fan but when magic left he became bandwagon fan, cousin's are celts, det, hou fans. to make the story short i live in a family of laker haters

hermes · Post #47 » by **hermes** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 6:50 pm

right before the three peat with shaq, when i was about 10-11
didn't really start watching games until a couple years ago because of the time difference

sina2002 · Post #48 » by **sina2002** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 7:45 pm

When i was 8 or 9, I used to wear bulls cap and lakers jersey :rofl:

NBAWestFan · Post #49 » by **NBAWestFan** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 8:02 pm

Can't remeber exactly when but recall players from the early 70's.
I ve seen Jerry West and Wilt play against the New York Knicks, Kareem and Oscar Robinson. I watched alot of the 80's Showtime and 3 peat Shaq Kobe Lakers and from then on after the Sacramento vs Lakers series
and the Scotty Pippen days in Portland series.

My player of the 70's was Gail Goodrich.

You people or young or I am just older than most on this board.

I am sure if i could remember that far back it would be in the 60's cause i know my parents have been fans since before i was born

Dexmor · Post #50 » by **Dexmor** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 8:15 pm

I am 27 and I was about 10 when I starting watching. I wasn't a fan until Shaq left I considered myself a fan of players and Kobe was my guy.
So when the Lakers were winning all those championships I never really got to celebrate and I was starting to question weather I will ever root for a team that actually wins.
When I was a little kid I rooted for the Knicks but that was almost by force and I hated rooting for who everybody rooted for.

Leonidas · Post #51 » by **Leonidas** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 8:54 pm

Been a fan since the 88-89.
and I'm still a believer..

Sancho Villa · Post #52 » by **Sancho Villa** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 9:15 pm

I'm 32, and can't say exactly how old I was when I started. But my earliest memories is when my dad would get home and we would catch the end of the Laker games together and he would exactly predict the plays. Not until years later did he tell me he would listen to the games live on the way home from work, and then we would watch the tape delay at home.

DEEP3CL · Post #53 » by **DEEP3CL** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 10:14 pm

Incredible thread, it really shows the YOUTH of the board but also a mix of VETS too. I couldn't believe some of the names along with the ages that I saw.

Now I understand why I see some of the stuff I see but its cool. What I mean by that is the level of basketball IQ is reflected in the conversations we all see here some of it good some great and some that shows that youth sometime.

With that said I'll share my experience.

Been watching the Purple & Gold since 1976-77 season. Saw the beginning of the Show Time Era. Been to a ton of games at the Forum. I remember players like Adrian Dantley who I patterned my own game after seeing that he was only 6'5" but played like he was a big forward.

I've seen a lot of Lakers in my 32 years of watching, I'm 39 now but I'll always pump purple and gold no matter who plays for the Lakers.

LAKESHOW · Post #54 » by **LAKESHOW** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 10:21 pm

KAREEM and MAGIC

TylersLakers · Post #55 » by **TylersLakers** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 10:38 pm

I first started watching the Lakers during the third year of the threepeat. Being from Canada, basketball isn't the primary sport here. So I saw the odd game on TV here and there, but just couldn't become a fan, I couldn't get into it.

I became a die hard Laker fan the day Kobe was charged with sexual assault. I watched the press conference on The Score, and I really felt sorry for him, because I knew something just wasn't right about it.

I followed every game I didn't see on Yahoo Sports box scores. It was the last season of Kobe and Shaq. Kobe Bryant and Karl Malone were my favorite players. I used to stand in my back alley shooting on my basketball hoop, having that little fade to my free throws like Karl Malone had. Yeah, it wasn't his best season ever, but his professionalism and guidance to Kobe and the rest of the team was just great to see. He didn't care about money or egos, he just wanted to win. One of the saddest moments of my life so far was to see Malone not playing in the final game of the Finals that season against Detroit, and seeing the look on his face. How different that result would have been if Malone was healthy.

Kobe has always been my favorite player though. I remember when he messed up his shoulder that season, and all of a sudden a couple days later, Kobe's playing with a purple shirt and some pad underneath his jersey. That was awesome to see.

Don't even get me started when Fish hit 0.4 against San Antonio. Or when Kobe nailed the three, and Karl Malone falling out of bounds to deflect the inbounds to send the Detroit game to overtime.

I supported Shaq, I just have never liked his attitude, and wasn't phased very much when he was traded.

So ever since that one horrible day in the summer where Kobe's problems started, I've been a die hard fan.