Lakers fans not from LA Unite!

[NYCLakers]

Was gud fellas. I from NYC (prolly can tell from my username). Always been a lakers fan growing up. I just hate it when people find out ur a lakers fan (especially here) and they go on a whole rant to how I'm a bandwagon and just a kobe fan. Its a tough crowd seriously and I hate going thru the trouble to explain to them I'm a true fan. I mean I'm happy for the knicks and the progress that they're making but its just tough for me to root against the LA. Anyone else share the same pain?

[KB24TBOTB]

I'm from Guelph, Ontario ( a small city). The first time I watched basketball, it was a lakers game. Without knowing any history I just started liking the team and wanted to watch more games of them play. As I watched more games, I just totally fell in love with this team. Now I can't root for any other team that's not purple n gold

[dirtymike]

Hell yea....And being from Orlando(via Jacksonville) doesnt make it any easier! Ya know with the whole Shaq thing. And then with the Matt Barnes incident. Now that the rumors about Dwight and the Lakers has gotten my household going crazy. See, my wife is a die hard Magic fan. So, I feel your pain buddy...i feel your pain. No bandwagoner here. I was loving the Lakers when Florida didnt even have a team. I stuck with them when they got swept by the 76ers in the '80s, the horrible teams in the '90s, the post Shaq losing seasons. So when we win...idgaf about the others!!! Laker4Life!

[dirtymike]

I'm from Guelph, Ontario ( a small city). The first time I watched basketball, it was a lakers game. Without knowing any history I just started liking the team and wanted to watch more games of them play. As I watched more games, I just totally fell in love with this team. Now I can't root for any other team that's not purple n gold

Same here!!!! It was the '83 Finals. I was a young kid and even though the Lakers were getting their ass handed to them...I knew in my heart that this was MY team. The rest is history!

[Gek]

I live in Pittsburgh. We don't have a basketball team though and we're a city of champions, so naturally many Pittsburghians root for the Lakers (or the Bulls).

I like the Lakers because they were the first team I watched on TV in the 90s as well. Don't remember what year, but it was early.

[semi-sentient]

Was born in Germany and have lived most of my life in Texas, but I've followed the Lakers since about the '84-85 season (although I'm sure I watched them in prior years because my step-father was a Lakers fan as well, and they in the Finals like every year it seemed). It's hard to remember when exactly I became a hardcore fan, but I do have some vivid memories of our repeat in the 80's so I think that's when I really started following them in a fanatical manner. I'm really glad that I got to experience the Showtime Lakers, but I wish I were a little older at the time so that I could have remembered more of it (was just hitting my teen years during their peak).

Anyway, I've never even been to LA, but I fell in love with the P&G the first time I saw them battling the Celtics. I was taken in by Magic's charisma and the Lakers style of play, and I generally dislike the color green so that helped me pick sides when I was a young buck. I can't imagine ever rooting for another team. The Lakers are the only team I've ever loved, and that will never change.

[hermes]

i'm from iowa, so no pro team either - as a result i decided i could pick which ever teams i want to follow

nobody really cares that much, although when i was at college in mankato i felt bad for all the timberwolves fans, they have it rough

[Gek]

Thinking back, I became a much more avid fan when our team was in the lottery and Shaq got traded away. I was a fan from probably the 96 or 97 season that I can remember (I was 6 or 7 back then), and was much more than a casual fan from 99-2003 (got into collecting basketball cards and knew virtually everyone in the league over those years and a lot of the 90s from all the duds) then around '04-05' I started watching the Lakers every game they were on and haven't really stopped since. Although I don't watch as many non-Lakers games as I used to because of time constraints.

[Mastroberadino]

MarQuez Javier Mastroberardino here from South Carolina. I became a fan when I was 4.5 years old I was watching the finals with my dad. He wanted me to be a Bulls fan, but I say Purple and Gold and have been hooked ever since. I even cry when we lose, but I always know that we are the Lakers and we always get what we want....

[Jetset]

^ Damn your name is long. And you have San Diego as your location bud.

I live in North Carolina and I've been a Laker fan ever since I was small. I enjoyed watching Shaq and Kobe dominate the league in my youth and I made it a personal goal to support the Lakers for the remainder of my life. I still remember when the Bobcats were created, everyone was saying that the Bobcats would win an instant title because big name talent would flock to play for MJ. lol and look how that's gone for them so far. I've seen may Lakers "fans" pile and hop off the bandwagon but I've remained tide and true.

[Sofa King]

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam over here. Been here for a little over 2 months now. I was in Alhambra, CA for a while but then moved to Florida for about 6 months or so. Got bored, then found my way to VN. Not many Americans over here but when I do find some it's like a bond.

Long time RealGMer checking in.

[monk302]

New York City (Manhattan) here. Became a Laker fan in 1977 when Jamaal Wilkes left Golden State to sign with the Lakers. I might be the eldest member on this board (lol).

[The Laker Kid]

Lakers fan from Philippines here.. just moved here in LA 15 yrs ago, but I spent 20 yrs there being a huge fan. Lakers was big there during the Magic era, and then the younger people became Bulls fans. I remember when we had to climb some neighbor's fence just to watch the Lakers/Celtics finals on a 13-inch black n white TV. Good times.

[BEazy]

Whaddup whaddup! Lakers fan from Des Moines, Iowa moved to Dallas, Texas (Yes it was hell when we got swept here in Dallas this year and that is mostly why I have such hatred for the Mavericks) Oh btw Laker fans Dallas hates our guts so much, don't be fooled by the media Dallas has no respect for us what so ever. Yeah I also HHAAATTTEE when people call me a bandwagon fan. I've been a fan since the days when EVERYBODY bandwagoned to the Chicago Bulls. But not me. I didn't like MJ or the Bulls. I've been watching since 92 when we had A.C. Green, B Scott, Doug Christie, James Worthy, Sam Perkins, Vlade Divac, and company. Me and my father grew up watching the Lakers and Packers. So as you can see I'm a very VERY die hard Packers fan and of course even bigger die hard Lakers fan. Through the bad times, through the good times L.A. is were my heart is and I will ALWAYS rep the Purple n Gold to the max along with the Green n Yellow!

[The Skyhook]

I came to New Jersey from Poland when I was 6 years old. I don't even think I knew what basketball was prior to coming to the U.S. Football was too difficult to understand because I didn't speak much English and baseball was just boring. Shaq immediately became my favorite player along with Kobe. To see Shaq and Kobe do the things they did was just fascinating. Now I live no more than 10 minutes from the Izod Center. I can walk down the block and have a perfect view of the Izod Center. Even though I've lived in New Jersey for a big part of my life I never became a Nets fan. It probably has to do with how I fell in love with the Lakers early on.

[SniperHawk10]

From Toronto Canada. I basically fell inlove with the lakers back in 2004 in a game vs the TORONTO raptors, strange i know. I was actually at my uncles house in LA at the time, and i had no past experience of basketball. So i started cheering for his team and thats when my dad mentioned that the raptors are from toronto. I just saw how terrible we were, and i loved the style that LA played with. After that i started catching up on it with my uncle, and thats how i became a laker fan.

[Wavy Q]

bandwagoners

[The_Trade_Seer]

I was raised near Motown (Detroit for all ya'll who don't know) and have always been more of a "player fan" than a team fan as teams make financial decisions, etc, whereas players stay true to themselves and don't change ... for the most part (cough, Lebron, cough, hahaha).

I had season tickets for the Pistons and grew up watching the Bad Boys kick MJ's a$$ and terrorize the league but I always had my favorite players back then like Nique and Barkley who I would route for even while at the Pistons games in a Pistons jersey.

In 90' I started following a skinny kid at LSU named Shaq and he instantly became my favorite player. That said I was a huge Orlando Magic fan from 92-96' when Shaq reigned in Mickey Mouse town.

Background note: I got into sports card and membrobilia collecting in 1992 and had a crazy Shaq collectuion, loaded with auto's, high dollar cards, etc.

In 1996 I heard of a kid who broke Wilt Chamberlain's Pennslyvania H.S. scoring record named Kobe Bryant and instantly became interested in finding out more. I read up on the kid and the more I read the more I liked him ... he became my favorite player the day he was drafted by the Lakers and paired with my, now 2nd favorite player, Shaq. I then started selling off ALL the sports cards, auto's, signed jerseys, etc, that I had collected and invested in over the years and bought as many 1996 Topps Finest Kobe Bryant RC's as I could get my hands on. Shortly thereafter I started to get the idea that the Topps Chrome RC's were more "limited" than the Finest and I made the, at that time thought to be insane, decision to trade ALL of my Kobe Finest RC's for Kobe Topps Chrome RC's. Long story short, when I pulled the trigger on this risk the Finest cards were woth around $60 and the Chromes around $45 ... shortly thereafter the Chromes hit $300+ per card while the Finest hovered around $75.

I graduated in 97' and Shane Battier got Mr. Basketball in my state of Michigan that year ... my wife's best friend and he went to prom together as well. I balled but was a bit of a head case, got thrown off the school team and mainly played in state-wide tourneys ... I could ball though and was D1 quality ... sort of like a 45% less athletic, 25% more efficient Baron Davis, or perhaps a bigger, stronger, more athletic, more efficient Gerry McNamara with less of a motor and more attitude issues, hahahaha. A construction accident that messed up my back, knees and ankles, coupled with marrying my h.s. sweetheart and leaving behind the knucklehead life for the ministry put an end to my ballin.

I have long since sold all those Kobe cards (though I still have a nice collection that I plan to hold onto and sell AFTER he breaks Kareem's all-time scoring mark) and used those funds to get into the real estate game, buying, sub-dividing and selling ... fun stuff.

So, long story short, I'm a D-Town boy who's favorite two players of all-time are Kobe and Shaq and as such I have been a die-hard Lakers fan since 1996.

What happens when Kobe retires? I have no idea ... 15+ years of being a Lakers fan has turned me into a mild "team fan" and I have a hard time belieiving I'll ever be entirely indifferent towards the Lakers in the way that I am towards, say, the Bucks. However when Kobe hangs up his sneakers I'm sure I'll probably have another player I follow and believe in investing in and that dude's team may become mine ... we'll see.

On a sad note, my eldest son loves Lebron and was hoping I'd invest in him, but that wasn't happening ... to this day the only Lebron stuff I have invested in is dual signed auto's, be they sports cards or membrobilia with Kobe on the item too, hahahahaha.

[LascelleL]

I'm from Toronto! LA is my second home, I have family there and I visit twice a year...been a Lakers fan since 96 (The Shaq signing)

[crazy8ights]

from Toronto! I watched the pic in my avy live and said this kid is going to be big, been a fan since! I cannot root for any other team at all. Especially not my hometown *shivers*