Jerry West, The Logo, The only man to win the NBA Finals MVP in a losing effort spent his entire 14-year career from 1960-1974 playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, reaching the NBA Finals nine times and capturing the title once in 1972.
Since then, West was the head coach of the Lakers from 1976 to 1979, and then a team consultant for three seasons. He then served as a Lakers executive from 1982 to 2000, where he played an instrumental part in building the teams that won the title in 1985, ’87, ’88, 2000, ’01 and ’02. He has seven championship rings as a member in some form with the Lakers and there is even a statue of West in front of Staples Center.
Yet, Jerry West believes that the Lakers fan base doesn’t hold a candle to that of the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors.
West said the following on the Jim Rome show.
“Incredible fans, best fans I’ve ever seen in my life, to be honest with you,” West recently told Jim Rome in reference to Warriors fans. “I’ve never seen anything like it. It just has been a thrill for me to be a part of it.”
So Warriors fans are significantly better than Lakers fans?
“Oh, much better than L.A. fans,” West declared. “OK, much better. They don’t ever leave the game…
“Once we (the Lakers) moved into Staples Center, our fan base changed I thought … Los Angeles has a lot of corporate fans there, who different people sit in different seats. You can go around Oracle Arena there right now and you will see the same people sitting in the same seats every night and it’s refreshing. But the fans in Los Angeles are great, but as I’ve said, I’ve never seen fans like this in my life.”
So, after only four seasons with the Golden State Warriors, West has already decided the Warriors fan base is better than the Lakers. He knows a thing or two about California basketball and their fans. As of late, the tides have turned in favor of the Warriors rise and the Lakers decline so that might have something to do with the recent swing in fandom but for the Warriors to have the best fanbase he’s ever seen, that’s saying something.
The tone might change once the Lakers get back to their winning ways but for now, the Warriors fans and Dub Nation has the crown as the best fans in the NBA.
