Thunder-Lakers: Ground zero of La-La Land
The timeouts seem to go quickly at the Staples Center, home of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers do many of the same timeout antics you see at the Ford Center. Kiss cam (called something else). Dance cam. Halfcourt shots. Dancing girls, (By the way, colleague Darnell Mayberry says the Laker Girls are way overrated).
Anyway, the Lakers don’t have a mascot, as far as I could tell. Unless you count Tom Arnold.
Tom Arnold got famous 20 years ago by marrying Roseanne Barr, who got famous by being funny in a great television show, “Roseanne,” but neither has done much to warrant that fame since.
I noticed Arnold on Sunday at the Staples Center just before the second half. He walked by our seats sweating like he had just left a workout gym, which I’m betting he hadn’t. Arnold was grinning like a fifth-grader who had just pulled the fire alarm. Never seen anyone look goofier in my entire life.
But that’s part of the fun of a Laker game. Star-gazing. Sometimes, you bump into celebrities without even knowing it. Literally. After the game, we were walking to the press room, and Darnell said, “Congratulations, you just bumped into Andy Garcia.”
Sorry. Never saw him. Probably wouldn’t have known it if I had. I know he’s a big star (loved “The Untouchables”). but heck, I really don’t keep up with Hollywood much anymore.
We also passed Teri Hatcher in the tunnel, and I’ve got to say, she looks much better in person than on television. She had some plastic surgery a few years ago which I thought ruined her looks, but maybe TV distorted her appearance. She looked pretty good.
Penny Marshall, a Clippers fan, was there. So Laverne is accounted, but there was no sign of Shirley (Cindy Williams).
The big screen showed Jennifer Garner, but I never saw her live. And of course, Jack Nicholson sat courtside, just a few seats down from Scott Brooks.
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