Run This Town: The L.A. Lakers championship parade
photo. Los Angeles Times
It wasn’t the same spectacle that shut down half the city of Los Angeles last year, but the Lakers’ 2010 championship parade was still something you didn’t want to miss. Kobe, Pau, Ron-Ron and the rest of the squad were perched atop an 18-wheeler as it rolled through the two-mile route, going from Staples Center to the USC campus. (If we were still into collecting Hot Wheels, the Lakers’ championship truck model would be kind of sick.) Over the last couple years we’ve seen the Yankees and New York Giants championship parades go right by the Dime office, and the atmosphere is tough to describe if you’re not there. It’s insanity. And you know Lakers fans are maybe crazier than NY fans … Reportedly, only seven people got arrested — much better than the 40 or so who got cuffed the night of Game 7, when dudes were lighting cars on fire and stomping out Boston fans. Three out of the seven were just crazed Utah Jazz followers, and one was a guy who strangely looked a lot like Chris Bosh, who was caught trying to climb onto the truck and hand Kobe his resume … Ron Artest is a clown. Dude showed up wearing an Abe Lincoln hat with feathers on top, cigar in his mouth, and a black shirt while almost everybody else wore white. Artest is on that Dennis Rodman level as a player now, where for the rest of his career he won’t act right if he’s not on a championship contending team. The winning is the only thing keeping him focused. At the same time, we’re dreading the day Ron-Ron’s autobiography comes out with the cover photo of him sitting naked on a Schwinn … Noticeable in his absence was Phil Jackson, who was at the doctor. Nothing serious, the team said, just a routine check-up he’d already had scheduled. If you’re Phil, are you ready to retire now? Or do you come back for another shot at another ‘chip? Phil said he’s going to make his decision quick, and the one person most looking forward to that is Byron Scott. He’s the top candidate for the Cavs job, but if Phil decides to retire, Byron would literally throw Anderson Varejao under a bus for a chance to coach the Lakers … Kobe has the MVP trophy, but who was the Defensive Player of the Finals? Who had the best individual performance of the series? Check out the Dime 2010 NBA Finals Awards … Just a couple of days away from the NBA Draft, and there’s a lot of trade talk in the air. Since it looks like the Sixers are hanging onto the No. 2 pick and deciding between Evan Turner and Derrick Favors, the teams heaviest in the mix are the Pistons (7th) and Pacers (10th). Detroit reportedly wants to trade up for a shot at DeMarcus Cousins, meaning Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton might be on the move this week. And the Pacers want a veteran point guard, and are shopping their pick to get one. We hear the Pacers and Wolves are talking about a deal where Jonny Flynn would end up with Indiana … Ty Lawson has also been linked to Pacers trade rumors. And who wouldn’t want the guy who wrote this on his Twitter account (@TyLawson3) yesterday: “I heard if u hit a kardashian u win a championship.. Kim k holla me!!! I need ya for 17 min” … The Bobcats don’t have a pick, but they’ve been working out players and trying to trade into the Draft. “It’s a miracle that we’ve got so many kids in without having a pick,” Larry Brown said in an Associated Press interview. Maybe it’s the prospect of free Jordans … We’re out like Varejao taking a charge from a bus …
Just because...
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June 22nd, 2010 at 5:35 am
2 Easy says:
1st, wow @Ty Lawson. So wrong yet so hilariously accurate
June 22nd, 2010 at 5:39 am
JR says:
anyone see the sign for sasha that said…. “let’s bone”
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:44 am
EN FUEGO says:
Artest still wearing his game jersey under his shirt?
June 22nd, 2010 at 6:50 am
alf (from melmak) says:
Those Lakers girls in the photo are damn hot. I like the fifth one from the left. Much appreciate it if Dime could email me her contact details.
I know I will get hit a lot for this but Red Auerbach is still the gold standard for coaches in the NBA. It is not Phil Jackson.
This is my arguement. Give Jerry Sloan or Larry Brown the same teams that Jackson has coached and they will produce the same results. Might even be better.
Top 100 reasons why Dime should hire me as one of its regular witers.
79. The Dime crew can throw Fear Factor challenges at me all day and I would gladly do them.
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:33 am
M-Intellect says:
Johnny Flynn/Ty Lawson aren’t veteran Point Guards.
LMAO @ 17 min!
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:44 am
That's What's Up says:
missing the championship parade for a freaking Dr.’s appointment? WTF??
The “Zen Master”, who supposedly thinks of EVERYTHING, never factored a victory parade into his schedule???
that is some booooooolllllllshiiiiitttt right there
June 22nd, 2010 at 7:51 am
D-man says:
one was a guy who strangely looked a lot like Chris Bosh, who was caught trying to climb onto the truck and hand Kobe his resume
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:02 am
Showtime says:
@#4 alf
You can spin that any way you want … give Sloan, Larry Brown or any other good coach teams like Red Auerbach had and they might have 10 rings as well. Phil has had great teams but so did Auerbach, Pat Riley, Daly, Tomjanovich and so on. So much for your ‘argument’
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:24 am
JAY says:
@Showtime
Please remove Tomjanovich from your list. If you are referring to the mid-90s Rockets championship team you are misled. There were teams with way more talent than that Rockets team. Hakeem led them to the championships single-handedly.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:27 am
Celts Fan says:
@Showtime – here’s the counter to that though, in a more watered-down league (there’s about 18 more teams than there were in Red’s time) Phil’s coached 3 of the 10 best players ever, including the GOAT and a guy who’s probably gonna end up top 5 by the time he’s done, long as he doesn’t go back to Colorado. Red coached just one (Russell.) You can’t just point to # of chips, but you can spin the lower # of teams in Red’s time back on him too since w/ so few teams, if you get a dominant team, you can still sit back and chill on it (though, to win 11 of 13 – I think he coached 9 of them and was the GM that put it all together too) takes more than just talent and luck. I’d still take Red personally. He was a better X’s and O’s coach (Tex Winter invented the triangle, Phil’s just a d@mn good ego-manager. Not a shot at all btw, with this level of talent, you need a guy that can do that – there’s a reason MJ and Shaq never won before they got to him.)
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:30 am
Simon says:
I don’t know if The Zen Master really wants to go another season if he doesn’t show up to the parades anymore. To me that is a guy who has reached his goals and is now tired of it.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:30 am
T Best says:
@ #4 another reason dime shouldn’t hire you… Your statement about sloan and brown is ridiculous. Sloan has never one A title and now if you give him some more talent. (he’s already had plenty) he’s winning 12? Plus auerbach arguably had even more stacked teams for the era and he didn’t deal with free agency. You’re a moron. Dime shouldn’t hire you, hell penny shouldn’t hire you.
June 22nd, 2010 at 8:53 am
Showtime says:
@ #8 and #9
To be honest I don’t really give a damn. They all had great talent and helped those talented players win. I’m just sayin it’s not like Auerbach and them coached a bunch of scrubs to the title.
To me it doesn’t matter who’s the best because I think all those comparisons suck big time. Celts Fan you said it yourself regarding Red Auerbach. You can make an argument for a watered down league, you can make an argument for the lower numer of teams, bla bla bla. We can spin that every way we want and all day long.
I don’t think you can compare players (or for that matter coaches) from different eras or different positions. No one can say how Shaq or Olajuwon would have done against Russell, Wilt or Kareem and vice versa. Right now people are talking about Kobe’s so-called legacy … Top Ten all time … Top Five all time … Where do you put him? How can you rank guys like Jordan, Kareem, Magic, Bird, Oscar, West when they played under totally different circumstances and different positions?
I think all those rankings and comparisons are just bullsh*t
Enjoy them while you can and be thankful instead of all that crap.
Take it easy, just my 2 cents
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:14 am
Mr. Brogden says:
I was thinking some stuff…’cause you know Hip Hop flows through me all crazy…about the headline ‘Run this Town’, about who made that song with the same title (Jay-Z) and who re-did that song (Lil Wayne).
One’s been on Top for a decade. The other’s on Top now but been raised by the game.
Well in NBA terms, one’s on Top now.
And the same one’s been raised by the game.
And the same one has arguably been on Top for a decade.
So it all kinda comes together.
QUE ‘WE RUN THIS TOWN’ – NBA ‘NO CEILINGS’ EDITION
(To the “just in case you don’t know” crowd)
Yo, We are.
So ready for thee war.
L-A-K-E-Rs
put the L in ER.
(To the “just in case you forgot” crowd)
UH, Black Mamba run this.
Towns
Countries
Still eats ballers. Hmm.
SCRUMPTIOUS
(To the Gasol Doubters)
We thought Pau was softer than nollin..
Oops I meant Nylon
Perfection is the goal. And they headed to
The pylon.
Crown fit ’em good.
They ain’t even gotta try on.
(To the entire League)
My apologies.
Diabolically.
I’m the prodigy.
Do you roger me?
I look at the parade and see
Alotta peeps.
(To Everyone)
Yeah we run this town,
Like a lot of feet,
Black Mamba Baby,
I’m proud of me
^^^—}}} I THINK IT’S SAFE TO SAY WE ALL ARE.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:15 am
JAY says:
@Showtime
I’m not arguing who the best coach or the best players are. I’m just pointing out that you are comparing the talent on Phil’s Bulls/Lakers, Daly’s Pistons, Riley’s Lakers to Tomjanovich’s Rockets. IMO, the difference in talent between the other teams and the Rockets’ teams is HUGE. I brought that up because the widely accepted rule to a championship is that coaches need 2 stars to win a ring. Tomjanovich’s Rockets was the only team I know of that did it with one star. Give The Dream credit. He won 2 without a “Robin”. Remove Tomjanovich from that list.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:15 am
Bk2lv says:
Hov is MJ, Kobe is Eminem, who is everyone else check it out at http://www.internationaloutfit.com Hip Hop & The NBA (2 worlds collide)…
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:19 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Phil Jax has already done 10 championship parades. Missing one for him is like missing a Tuesday at work for us. No big thing.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:23 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Check that, Phil has done 12 parades. I forgot his two as a player.
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:27 am
Mr. TKO says:
Phil had no choice but to miss the parade because this appointment has been a long standing one and couldn’t be rescheduled.
This is the one where he finds out if he’ll be able to medically make it through another season, which in turn will let the Lakers know if he’s coming back next season or not.
So it was kind of important (plus he’s been to 10 of them things already lol)
June 22nd, 2010 at 9:35 am
Showtime says:
@JAY
I don’t know about that one. I mean Olajuwon was an absolute beast at that time and for example just humiliated the MVP David Robinson in the WCF but those Rockets weren’t that bad. At least in ’95 he had a ‘Robin’. Drexler was still a very good player and Horry, Smith, Mario Elie and even Rookie Sam Cassell made the most of all those open looks.
I’ll give you ’94 though, that really was Hakeem against the Knicks
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:02 am
K Dizzle says:
@ Jay
Clyde Drexler is a Hall of Famer…Drexler averaged 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game in the 95 Finals
NOBODY does it on their own.
I’ll agree with you that 94 might have been the only year that it was main man vs man man cuz it was basically Hakeem vs Ewing
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:16 am
calvin brodus says:
lawson lost his phone and someone was twittering from his account. i agree that the “fuck a kardashian for a chip” schtick is funny…but it wasnt lawson behind it.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:21 am
Celts Fan says:
@Showtime – you’re right on the coaching/players in different eras thing. Just talking. It’s a fun discussion, but no real way to prove one way or another. It makes for a fun few months while we wait for games to start up again…
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:37 am
Showtime says:
Yeah, can’t wait till November
Now we face lots of discussions about why Lebron will be the GOAT and bring 23 championships to the Knicks while averaging a triple double as D’Antonis Knicks average 130 points while giving up 150.
Like I said can’t wait till November
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:51 am
JAY says:
@K Dizzle
Yes, i agree. Nobody does it on their own. Everybody needs people to hit open shots. The difference between all the teams Showtime mentioned and the ’94 Rockets is the Rockets team only had a #1 guy. No “1A and 1B”. Not even a “1 & 2″. It was Hakeem and company.
Kenny Smith should kiss Hakeem’s feet everytime they meet.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:09 am
JAY says:
I only brought up the Rockets because Showtime compared the talent on Tomjanovich’s teams to Riley’s teams, Daly’s teams and Phil Jackson’s teams.
Obviously there is a difference.
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:14 am
Ekstor says:
I have to agree with Jay… those two playoff runs of the Rockets cemented Hakeem as the best center I’ve ever seen play. Drexler was in the final stages of his career (similar stage to where KG is now) and the rest were just role players (albeit good ones).
As for Phil Jackson, it’s amazing to me that he has an opportunity at a fourth three-peat. The fact is that MJ, Pippen, and Kobe have not won any rings without PJ. Shaq won one ring, but that year I believe DWade was the real reason they won, and Shaq wasn’t even the best defensive center on his own team (how about Zo’s 6 blocks in game 6).
June 22nd, 2010 at 1:42 pm
eyeused2b says:
DIME needs to do a feature on that Kardashian-Champion-Making-Good-Good myth. Reggie Bush. Lamar Odom. O.J. Simpson.
O.J. didn’t hit a Kardashian, but a Kardashian helped him beat a murder wrap. That’s as big if not bigger than a championship.
June 22nd, 2010 at 1:43 pm
Joe Cooley High says:
#22 — Maybe. But you know every time a celeb posts somethin on Twitter and people get mad, they use the “That wasn’t me, I lost my phone” or the “My account got hacked” excuse. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was Lawson (maybe he was baked?) and he didn’t realize some people might be mad.
June 22nd, 2010 at 2:52 pm
JAY says:
If boning a Kardashian equates success, then Ray-J should have been Drake before Drake. When he signed to Death Row didn’t he say he’s gonna bring “gangster” to R&B?? Lmao!! What a joke.
June 22nd, 2010 at 4:46 pm
dennisfromdallas says:
Ron Artest’s top hat was made by his young daughter….the one recovering from kidney cancer. It said, “I love you dad #37″ and was topped off with a pink feather.
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:56 pm
sh!tfaced says:
Shiiiit. So banging a Kardashian makes you a damn champion?!
June 22nd, 2010 at 10:57 pm
sh!tfaced says:
And Kim is single now, right? Damn… If only I were a pro athlete… LOL
June 22nd, 2010 at 11:29 pm
A.R. says:
@ Celts Fan
Auerbach only coached one great? I think Cousy and Havlicek’s 25 thousand plus points would disagree with you my friend. Yeah Phil has had Jordan, Pippen, Kobe and Shaq but those Celtics back then were an all star all by themselves. There was no competition for them and it wasn’t because Red was just that great of a coach it was because they had a list of hall of famers on that those teams each year.
on a side note your Colorado line gave me good chuckle and i normally hate when people speak about that. so thumbs up for that