Originally posted by: monto
still don't understand the anti-Lakers sentiment...Sacto whined more than any team in the history of the league, look at all the T's Web/Divac/Adelman got during the games. *one news conference featuring Shaq and his "cheat" comment doesn't cut it
Lakers win 2 championships in a row, they're gracious when winning, their players are crime-free, upstanding role models, and all they get are band wagon-jumping LA Hate
Actually, compared to most teams in general, the kings really dont whine all that much. The lakers went to the media between games trying to work the officials, the kings didnt (not nearly as much, anyways). during the game webber and divac over-act/overreact to some calls, but, in general, the team is not a whining team. Look at it this way-those T's webber/divac/et all receive are emotional T's; they do need to work on controlling their emotions (or, more specifically, the hand motions in response to calls/non-calls that ALWAYS catch the ref's attention), but they arent whining about the officiating overall.
the anti-laker sentiment comes from a combination of a few factors...to name some of them:
1) jealousy of kobe and shaq being on the same team
2) fans not liking the way shaq plays-he gets hit a lot, often cheap, but he dishes out a LOT of elbows, then complains between games about the hack-a-shaq technique.
3) the fact that LA fans show up then talk on cell phones till halftime or 4th quarter...dont underestimate this one. If I'm looking at a team and deciding whether or not I want them to succeed (and this is coming from a non-fan who doesnt really care much about pro-basketball since almost ALL the players have crap, "who cares as long as im getting paid" attitudes), I'm going to notice that their fans (those who can get into the games, anyways) present an attitude of not caring; it's almost a swagger, but it's more like a collection of a$$holes watching a game whose outcome, in their minds, is both pre-decided and irrelevant. compare that atmosphere to the one in, just to list one example, sacramento, and you can see why people resent the lakers.
4) the style of basketball the team plays is not exciting-they play a halfcourt game, and that does not draw fans like that of, to name a few, the clippers, dallas, and philly. Fans will then begin to hate the lakers, since, to be honest, they (the lakers) have gone through all those more "exciting" teams, making for boring yet successful basketball.