I'm tempted to actively root against the Lakers at this point.

<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Look at all the fair weather Lakers fans in this thread.

I bet the same fans were "die hard Lakers fans" in the days of Kobe and Shaq.

I hope the Lakers are as weak minded as some of you.

For the fans that said its too early to give up, I applaud and respect you. When you have a player like Kobe on your team, anything is possible in the playoffs. Look at MJ and his teams. The Lakers are just as talented as the Bulls dynasty team overall. Kobe is nearly as dominant as MJ and Odom can be as good as an all around player as Pippen was. Kwame/Bynum have much greater potential than old I forget the White Aussie's name at center, etc.

I hope the Lakers tank as some of you hope so the Warriors wont have to worry about a tie breaker.

Go Warriors!</div>

Somewhere you (or rather the Lakers) have to make up your mind about either getting some (limited) playoff experience, or, getting a pick in the lottery. Which is more valuable? I'd say the lottery pick, because the way this team is playing, it's not going to learn much from the playoffs. It needs to learn how to play in the regular season first.

Secondly, your Bulls argument is weak. Have you even seen a Bulls game? Have you ever seen a Lakers game? The defensive intensity of the bulls was otherworldly compared to that of the current Lakers. The offense? The Bulls were much better at running the fast break, and the triangle. I don't think the two teams can be compared at all, unless you count the Lakers only when their team play is clicking maximally.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Warriorfansnc93 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Look at all the fair weather Lakers fans in this thread.

I bet the same fans were "die hard Lakers fans" in the days of Kobe and Shaq.

I hope the Lakers are as weak minded as some of you.

For the fans that said its too early to give up, I applaud and respect you. When you have a player like Kobe on your team, anything is possible in the playoffs. Look at MJ and his teams. The Lakers are just as talented as the Bulls dynasty team overall. Kobe is nearly as dominant as MJ and Odom can be as good as an all around player as Pippen was. Kwame/Bynum have much greater potential than old I forget the White Aussie's name at center, etc.

I hope the Lakers tank as some of you hope so the Warriors wont have to worry about a tie breaker.

Go Warriors!</div>

Real Laker fan checking in here, I wholeheartedly agree with you. I come here to chat it up with where i think i can find real laker fans only to see a BS garbage thread like this.... very disappointing in many of you here. That's completely shameful ..

The whole 'why watch this team when they suck' , or 'i got better things to do' or 'lets tank to move up 2 spots in the draft rather then give ourselves a change in the playoffs' is fairweather talk, no if ands or buts. Those are the same things the fairweather fans said when Sedale Threatt was leading the team to their first lottery. Then they 'die hard' when Shaq comes to town, but they can't even tell me who started in 1993-96. Shameful

Go become a mavs fan if you're not going to stick through the downs, because there isn't enough room on this bandwagon when this franchise rises again, as they seemingly always do.. I'll be the first to kick you off if u try to hop on again

 

I'll still watch Laker games, don't get me wrong, but I'm haven't really been excited for a game for a long while. Before, I used to get excited the day we had a game, and I'd try my best to revolve my schedule around the Laker game so I'd be able to catch it. But considering how piss poor we've been playing lately, I don't see the need of revolving my schedule just to fit in a Laker game

 

I haven't missed a game. Doesnt mean I've been enjoying them however. I've been with them thru thick and thin, so calling me a fair weather fan is like bi*chslapping me across the face. I dont appreciate the name callin..

 

<div class="quote_poster">Trench Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I haven't missed a game. Doesnt mean I've been enjoying them however. I've been with them thru thick and thin, so calling me a fair weather fan is like bi*chslapping me across the face. I dont appreciate the name callin..</div>

Word.

 

If you're telling me you'll only watch them when they're winning, they you are a fair weather / bandwagon fan. That's not namecalling, that's just what it is.

95% + of sports franchises dont win championships mutliple times a decade. Look at the Warriors, look at the Sonics, look at the Nuggets, look at T-wolves, look at the Kings, look at the Trailblazers etc etc etc....heck look at the Cubs ... do they have fans? hell yeah, and they dont win squat ever ... they are what the 2006-2007 lakers are every year. Their fans go through what laker fans are currently going through for their entire lives. Yet they are still real fans, they still watch as many games as they can. So lakers fans have been spoiled by success, it doesnt mean when success doesn't come u abandon ship and when the time finds sucess, u somehow find yourself back. That mess just irks me ... I've been a die-hard Dodger fan and I haven't seen a playoff win in over 19 years. Yet come summer time, u slit my wrist and Dodger blue will come out of my veins. If the Lakers are 8th seed for the next two decades, I will be there rooting for the upset every year and I will watch them fail every year if I have to

If you're going to abandon ship as the team is entering the playoffs, then i'm sorry, you're not really a fan.

 

I gotta agree with notMuchgame on this one. You guys are blaming the poor play of the Lakers as an excuse to stop watching them. However, that is the exact definition of a fairweather fan. If you guys think the Lakers are playing bad right now, imagine how frustrated all of us Magic fans were during the 2003 season when the Magic only won 21 games. It was so hard to watch but I did. I watched every single game that season because I support the Magic through the thick and thin. I think some of you Lakers fans are so used to winning all the time, you just give up when the team starts losing. I respect fans like notMuchgame who stick with the team and I think the rest of you should follow his example.

 

It?s like this, when you hang out with your friends and have a good time and everything is going well, you?re always there because it?s fun. Now let?s say a friend of yours all of a sudden had this big personal problem, are you just gonna abandon him. Why would you wanna hang out with someone with problems, that?s no fun, is that how you?re gonna treat a friend.

I?m not saying that one fan is better than the other, some fans are more attached to the Lakers. I fully understand what notmuchgame is trying to say, being a diehard Laker fan myself.

 

There are fans of perennial 9th place teams that would kill to be in your position right now. Drafts come and go, but the experience and attitude that comes with being a playoff team is invaluable. It sounds like some of you are taking it for granted.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I just find it hilarious how he expects our schedule to revolve around Laker games. I used to schedule around the games, but now if something comes up that sounds more fun, I'll go with that option. It's really not that difficult of an option...go have fun or get frustrated and sickened by a team you've been following for 10+ years? Simply, I'd rather go have fun.

What's so damn difficult to understand about that?</div>

I never once said i expect anybody's schedule should revolve around the Lakers. After re-reading my posts, I'm still not exactly sure where u got that from... Hell, my life doesn't revolve around the lakers, although I wish it could.

The point is, if your behavior patterns change with the success of the team - ie u only watch when they win and you stop watching because they lose - then you are a fair weather fan ... it is what it is ...

here I wikipedia'ed it, this is literally the first sentence under characterstics of a bandwagon / fairweather fan.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A bandwagon fan, also called a "fair-weather fan" supports their team only when it is winning.
</div>
more from wikipedia, the first one, just replace 'game' with 'season' and you have what has been discussed in this thread, the second one, just look at the freakin title of this thread ... and third one, i dont even need to point out

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">A bandwagon fan will often leave a game before completion should their adopted team be losing.[5]

A bandwagon fan will cheer for another team than his own if his own team is not doing well enough. [6]

A bandwagon fan will only support ?their? team when they are successful, but claim they have always supported them.[citation needed]</div>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_weather_fan

...

anyways, i'm done with my rant .... see u guys playoff time

 

For me at least, I'm a basketball fan first, and a Lakers fan second. I like to see great teamwork on the court, and that's one of the reasons I watch the Lakers, when they are using the triangle and passing the ball. Even though I am amazed by how Kobe can make impossible shots, I'd much rather see the other guys scoring, passing and moving themselves. In the beginning of the season, that was how the Lakers played. After the injuries and losing streaks, Kobe has done it all by himself, and I don't really like to watch that. I used to watch the games at the beginning of the season, but now I only watch the important ones.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mamba:</div><div class="quote_post">Chutney, if this team gets swept, there is no experience there. 4 playoff games? Almost no playoff experience, it's like knocking on the door and getting a step in before getting pushed out.</div>
The difference between 8th and 9th place is huge. It might seem like much, especially if you get swept in the first round, but the feeling that your players will get after going through one of the worst 2nd half collapses in recent memory is tough to shake. On the other hand, you want your team playing in as many pressure-packed situations as possible and reaching the playoffs builds a culture of success within an organization. I consider that much more important than moving a spot up in the draft.

 

Take it from a Raptors fan; as hard as it may seem rooting for them at this point, they will eventually turn the ship right. I've noticed some of the Laker fans on this board tend to do this kind of thing a lot. I don't doubt any of your loyalties, but when you say things like "TRADE LAMAR ODOM RIGHT NOW" when he has one bad game, or "WE SHOULD HAVE TRADED BYNUM FOR KIDD" when Bynum makes a dumb move, it just makes me laugh. I think the main thing with the Laker fans in LA is that impatience you obtained from watching this team cruise through the regular season and turn it up in the playoffs.

I'm a Lakers fan, but I don't get to watch them a whole lot, being from around here...hell, I barely get to even watch the Raptors nowadays. I guess you could call me a "fair-weather" fan in that regard. However, if I ever see a Lakers game on TV, I'll still end up watching it. You know why? Because I love seeing them play. I watched the team in '98, and I'd still watch them now. Same goes for the Raptors (although my loyalty to the Raps goes a little bit deeper then with the Lakers). Case in point, stop saying things like "I'm not going to watch the rest of the season" because your team is playing poorly...you're still in the playoffs.

 

<div class="quote_poster">notMuchgame Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">If you're telling me you'll only watch them when they're winning, they you are a fair weather / bandwagon fan. That's not namecalling, that's just what it is. </div>

Here is the only thing I said in this thread.

<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree, its so hard to root for this team right now. Im sticking it out with Jack Nickolson. We'll pout together...</div>

Where did I say I wasn't sticking with the team or not watching them? I've been a fan for over 20 years. Been with them even during the years we MISSED the playoffs. I rooted for them on the last day knowing we were not going any further after our 82 games were up.

Really, statements on the web don't prove that Im a bandwagon fan and it IRKs me when people say that I am just because they misinterpret what I say.

Lakers for life. Bottomline. Believe it or not.