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LOS ANGELES A sea of purple and gold colored the streets from Staples Center to the Los Angeles Coliseum, colors worn by the fans who got up early to catch a glimpse of the newly crowned champs. Crowds 20 deep jostled for spots along the parade route.
The Lakers had not won an NBA title for seven years and the parade-starved fans showed up by the thousands to revel in the Lakers' first title since 2002. The Lakers wrapped up the championship Sunday with a 4-1 series victory against Orlando.
Kobe Bryant said this year's title was more special “because we went through so many dark years.”
An estimated 80,000 people crammed into the Coliseum and waited for the buses to arrive from Staples Center, where the parade began.
“We're back on top,” Bryant told the frenzied crowd. “It's unbelievable. This team has a lot of young players and we'll be back next year for sure.”
In the three days following the Lakers' clinching victory, much was made of the estimated $2 million cost in the face of a failing economy and a city that is a half-billion in debt and facing layoffs and furloughs.
Private donors, however, stepped up and underwrote most of the cost of the police and cleanup. The Lakers and AEG funded the production costs of the parade and rally.
McHale out as coach of Timberwolves
Kevin McHale is out as coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
New president of basketball operations David Kahn announced the move Wednesday, ending McHale's 15-year stint with the Timberwolves. In a statement issued before a news conference, Kahn lauded McHale's contributions as an executive and a coach.
Donaghy moved from prison to halfway house
Former NBA referee Tim Donaghy arrived at Tampa halfway house Wednesday from a federal prison camp in the Florida Panhandle to serve the rest of his 15-month sentence in a gambling scandal, said Pat Zaranek of Executive Prison Consultants.
A New York judge sentenced Donaghy last year to 15 months after the referee said he took thousands of dollars from a professional gambler in exchange for inside tips on NBA games – including games he worked. Donaghy said he was a gambling addict.
Donaghy has begun working on a tell-all memoir about his 13-year career in the NBA while he's been in prison.
He plans to detail his involvement with underworld figures in the betting scandal and disclose how he'd pick winning teams.
While at the prison camp on Saufley Field, a Navy base, Donaghy was attacked by another inmate claiming to have to ties to the New York mob, Zaranek disclosed last week.
