Comparing other Los Angeles Lakers:
JaVale McGee: Goofy
JaVale was originally known for his goofy on-court antics that led to frequent appearances on the NBA’s premiere blooper show, “Shaqtin’ a Fool”, led by Laker great Shaquille O’Neal. Goofy is known for making silly mistakes, but even Goofy hangs with Mickey and the gang because of his big heart and ability to make the best of situations.
JaVale did this by becoming a role player with the Golden State Warriors winning two championships changing his reputation from being a joke to being part of the gang as he now often starts at center for the Lakers on their championship quest.
J.R. Smith: Peter Pan
Peter Pan was the boy who would never grow up, but whom everyone loved as he always found a way to succeed in the end.
J.R. Smith has entered his mid-30s, but recently forgot the score in an NBA Finals game, had an incident where he threw soup at an assistant coach, stopped playing defense to say, “what’s up” to a friend on the opposing team’s bench in the middle of a game and recently admitted he did not bring enough underwear to the Disney World bubble.
However, J.R. Smith is an unbelievably capable role player who played an integral role in helping LeBron secure his third championship in 2016 through his sharpshooting and ability to finish inside. LeBron was quite upset when J.R. forgot the score in the finals, but everyone loves J.R. and now he is on the Lakers looking great. Never change and never grow up, J.R.
Alex Caruso: Remy (Ratatouille)
Remy was a rat with a dream of becoming a chef. Your typical chef definitely doesn’t look like a rat as this seemed like a ridiculous dream to achieve. Alex Caruso dreamed of being an NBA player, but looks like an average Home Depot employee or the star of a Rogaine commercial.
However, Caruso has now made a name for himself as an exciting NBA player capable of rising up for vicious dunks and hitting silky smooth jump shots when needed. Remy became an incredible chef as well as a fan favorite, while Caruso is already a fan favorite evolving into a great player. Ratatouille and Caruso both prove that you should never judge a book by its cover.
Quinn Cook: Pinocchio
Pinocchio may have been the only Disney character with a more ridiculous sounding dream than Remy as Pinocchio was a puppet who dreamed of becoming a real boy.
Many people reading this article and millions (potentially billions) grew up as Kobe fans, imitated Kobe shooting hoops on their driveway or yelled, “Kobe!”, when shooting paper into the trash can imagining they were on the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA.
However, one young Kobe fan rose above them all to actually play for the Lakers achieving his dream of replicating his childhood hero. Quinn Cook was a die-hard Kobe and Lakers fan with multiple jerseys and out of all the Kobe fans, he actually ended up playing for the Lakers.
Nothing proves this more than the image of Quinn Cook emulating being a regular fan again after Kobe tragically passed away, as Cook stood amongst all the Lakers fans who grew up with Kobe to mourn outside the Staples Center.
The only way for this Los Angeles Lakers team to truly have their Disney story come true with this incredible cast of characters is to win their 17th championship in honor of Kobe Bean Bryant as they seem destined to do so.