Los Angeles Lakers: A view of the team from a fan

The Los Angeles Lakers are heading into an important offseason. How is the team looking from the viewpoint of a fan?

I am one of those die-hard Los Angeles Lakers fans, purple and gold bleeding, almost to the point of “geekdom”. If you are reading this I am guessing that you are also at least a solid follower, and you are who I am aiming this towards.

As this is my first column for LAKE SHOW LIFE, let me give you a little background on what has grown into this state of obsession that I find myself in these days.

My history is as a professional surfer. When I was about 15 years old, in the mid-1960s, I was signed to be a member of the Jantzen International Sport Club. This consisted of some guys from different sports and was the advertising campaign for the men’s division of Jantzen Sportswear.

We had two basketball players in the group, Jerry West and Bob Cousy. Jerry and I became friends and he invited me to home games at the Forum; I sat with his wife Jane and their kids. I had gone out for basketball in high school, but the coach suggested I play water polo, humph. I was later a member of the Miller Lite All-Stars, a bigger group of former sports guys. We had a lot of Celtics in that group, hiss.

From the first game Jerry invited me to, my love for the LAKERS grew and through the years, I have watched as many games in person, or on television, as possible. I now live in the southern part of Mainland Mexico, so it’s impossible to go to games, but with NBA League Pass, I watch them all. From draft night, through summer league, preseason and the season, I have not missed a game in many years.

So, this brings us to now. I, for one, am in a state of shock and confusion over the current state of our team. Everywhere you look there are stories of horrific chaos and disaster, the league laughing at us and happy to rub our faces in it.

I hate this. I have felt like we hit the iceberg and are going down and somebody keeps taking off with the lifeboats. But, the truth is, there are a lot of conflicting reports, a lot of rumor and innuendo, just a lot of bad news.

I don’t want bad news; I want good news. I am a fan and I want to hear some positive stuff coming from my team. I don’t care what kind of shoe Lonzo Ball wears of if Kyle Kuzma is dating a Kardashian. I want to know how we are going to get out of this current mess and get back to being the freaking Lakers.

Days go by and no word on what’s going to happen with the front office. People are saying the GMs despise Pelinka, but who knows how much of that is fact and how much is just rumor?  If that is so, then why is he still here and looking to hire a coach? And why hire a coach without a set front office first.

No official statement has come forth as of this minute  People want to know, I want to know. I am a fan, and I care.  And I am happy to share my two cents worth. It’s not going to be unbiased either.