Jerry West was associated with the Los Angeles Lakers for some four decades as a player and front-office executive, but his current employment seems to (logically) dictate his loyalties.
The Logo, who has a statue outside the Staples Center, says that Golden State Warriors supporters are “much better” than their Laker counterparts.
West, an Executive Board Member for the Dubs, argues that the Lakers’ building—a relatively sterile environment compared to their boisterous old home, The Great Western Forum—has ruined the game experience in L.A.
Per The Jim Rome Show:
“Incredible fans, best fans I’ve ever seen in my life, to be honest with you. I’ve never seen anything like it. It just has been a thrill for me to be a part of it,” West said.
Spending most of his playing and management career with the Los Angeles Lakers, West was asked if Golden State fans were better or just different than Laker fans. […] “Oh, much better than L.A. fans. Ok, much better, they don’t ever leave the game,” West said.
“Once we moved into Staples Center, our fan base changed I thought, and even though I was only one year there, but I did think that our fan base had changed, but a completely different kind of fan in Los Angeles,” West said. “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.”
