***2009 Lakers' Championship Parade Thread***

[The_Dyn@sty]

I watched the FSN Coverage DVR of today's Rally and on the show Bill MacDonald mentioned that Dr. Buss is currently in Oregon. Maybe he's got a vacation spot up there in the wildnerness away from it all?

[Senor Mortgage]

[The_Dyn@sty]

[Since88]

[Master)v(ind]

I thought Tex was at the parade

[ReaListik]

Tex is up in Oregon recovering.

No idea where Buss was, though it was weird that he wasn't there.
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"We are the goodest." - Shaq ESPN interview

[Krispy Kreme]

the crowd was jacked. i dont give a flying (bleep) if it was because of weed, booze or whatever. i loved it, that's how a real LA crowd should sound
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Dominating every day.

[SportsLoco]

[SportsLoco]

I may be wrong! Who knows but it was a great day for all Laker fans yesterday.. Here the AP story:

LOS ANGELES -- Tens of thousands of jubilant Los Angeles Lakers fans flooded downtown Wednesday, creating a tidal wave of purple and gold while celebrating the storied franchise's 15th NBA title with a high-energy parade and rally paid for by the city's movers and shakers.

People clad in the team colors stood 20 or more deep along the 2½-mile parade route from Staples Center to the packed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where players were greeted with a thunderous ovation and showered with purple and gold confetti.

After the rally, fans briefly danced arm-in-arm as the Randy Newman song "I Love L.A." blared over loudspeakers. Some had dyed their hair purple for the occasion.

"Thank you for all the support, baby. We love you. Let's go, Lakers," veteran guard Derek Fisher shouted to fans along the parade route.

Fisher all but ripped the heart out of the Orlando Magic with a pair of 3-point shots that sealed a Game 4 victory in the NBA Finals. The Lakers needed just one more game to clinch the championship on Sunday.

At the Coliseum, which holds 95,000 people, star Kobe Bryant said he was anxious to win even more titles.

"Now here we are, back on top, so it just feels unbelievable," Bryant said, grinning broadly.

Fisher and coach Phil Jackson also spoke after the Laker Girls danced and the players body-bumped and high-fived on a hardwood floor brought from Staples Center, the team's home court.

Bryant led the crowd in a championship chant that he said he and his teammates shouted before, during and after every game this season.

"I want everybody to say 'ring' on three: One, two, three ... " he shouted.

Crowds at the stadium and along the parade route were rambunctious but mostly well-mannered, in contrast to the melee that broke out downtown after the Lakers clinched the championship in Florida. Eighteen people were arrested.

Police said there were only five arrests on Wednesday. They had no immediate details, but one rowdy celebrant was seen being led out of the Coliseum in handcuffs before the team arrived.

Police Chief William J. Bratton said at least 1,700 officers, some in riot gear and others in plainclothes, kept watch on the crowd.

The city held similar post-victory parades in 2000, 2001 and 2002 after the Lakers won championships, but the energy and size of the crowd didn't compare to this year.

"This is more special because we went through so many dark years," Bryant said as he prepared to board one of the parade buses. "You can just feel the energy in the city."

Letitcia Gutierrez watched the procession while she was squeezed against a chain-link fence separating fans from the double-decker buses carrying the players.

"It's a great thing to be a part of," she said. "We got passion and motivation. We're rowdy."

Bryant had teamed with center Shaquille O'Neal to lead the Lakers to those three other championships before a dry spell set in after O'Neal was traded in 2004. It ended this year, with Bryant, now 30, clearly the leader of this team.

In the days before the event, much was made of its estimated $2 million cost, with critics complaining that a city a half-billion dollars in debt and facing layoffs could not afford the celebration.

But private donors joined the team and the owners of Staples Center in an unusual move to underwrite most of the cost. It was the first of the four Lakers victory parades this decade to be privately funded.

People began waiting at the Coliseum and along the parade route on Tuesday night. The stadium was filled hours before the parade began.

Among those inside for the rally was USC football coach Pete Carroll, who has seen his own moments of glory on the stadium football field.

"I'm having a blast," he said.

Walter Contreras was one of the thousands of people who arrived too late to get into the Coliseum. No matter. He decided to stand outside and see whatever he could.

"Come on, it's the Lakers," he said. "This is the heart of our city. Why would I ever want to miss this?"


Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

[El Daddy702]

lol when i started watching the parade on tv, i kept asking myself who the hell was the guy with the ugly dirty fro...at first, i though it was probably one of AB's cousin's, or friend...but as he got closer to the camera, i realized it was Josh Powell!

I mean, Seriously, Millions of ppl are gonna be watching you, the day will be marked in history, and you walk out the house looking like that! lol

Josh Powell, what's wrong with you?? lol
_________________
KobeDunk wrote:
I say 50/50 chance somehting happens....

Drzucchini wrote:
Either something happens or something doesn't? Damn. Bold claim.

[Roger O. Thornhill]

Let the champion do his thang.

[Joe204]

Here is why he had his hair out

and all season along no one had worse hair than Gasol and with the unshaven look to go and no one cared.

[44TheLogo]

He promised mike trudell (lakers.com reporter) that he would let the fro out if we made it to the finals. He never let it out throughout the finals so I am guessing that this was when mike trudell made him fulfill the promise.

[Spirit]

I laughed so hard, I thought I was looking at the modern-day Buckwheat.

Oh-tay!


http://artfiles.art.com/images/-/Buckwheat-Poster-Card-C10230417.jpeg

[FOXeatsFISH]

lol I was like.. what? Who's that guy who gets to walk with the players on stage? And then they introduced him...

[El Daddy702]

lol thanks for the link, Joe.

i seriously didn't recognize him till he got a close up, when the players were together. lol i kept thinking, there's someone missing, but i couldn't think of who it was, till i saw his face
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KobeDunk wrote:
I say 50/50 chance somehting happens....

Drzucchini wrote:
Either something happens or something doesn't? Damn. Bold claim.

[Krispy Kreme]

[Andrew Evenstar]

I saw him in a pic of the trophy and i couldn't recognize him. But i think it's sweet. How the hell do people think it's ugly. wtf. it's sick.

[Moses]

Man i love JP, at the price we've got an option for also, he's pretty much 100% guaranteed to be here next year.

[Trey]

Black Mark Madsen??

^^refresh browser if it doesn't display

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/88539720/AFP

[Trey]

http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/88542895/National-Basketball-Association

[macwebb]

[dmlakerfan01]

That 'fro was awesome. I knew it was Josh Powell, pretty quick from his face.

[LakerJosh]

I was down with the fro!

[kobeandgary]

call me crazy, but i was always under the impression it was hot over there in cali. is kobe seriously the only one with sense in that picture?