The Los Angeles Lakers’ 320-Game Home Sellout Streak Ended

Xavier Henry’s monster dunk being the lone exception, the Los Angeles Lakers have given their fans little reason to show up for their games this season. Last night against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Lake Show’s 320-game home sellout streak came to an end. Per Bleacher Report: “The Lakers’ 320-game home sellout streak ended when Staples wound up 571 spectators shy of the 18,997 capacity for the game against the New Orleans Pelicans.A Lakers game not selling out?! It hadn’t happened for seven years (Dec. 6, 2006 against the Oklahoma City/New Orleans Hornets). That was so long ago that the NBA was using what wound up as a temporary new microfiber composite basketball—and Smush Parker, Kwame Brown, Luke Walton and Lamar Odom joined Kobe Bryant in the Lakers’ starting lineup. Nothing so far in this Kobe-less Lakers season—led by an out-of-shape Pau Gasol and a semi-limping Steve Nash—has been as interesting as the Lakers not being able to sell their tickets. It speaks to how dependent the team has become on the star power of Bryant, recovering from his Achilles tear at age 35, and how dangerously close the Lakers are to losing the attention of a local fanbase that loves winners but always has the entertainment industry to turn to anyway. Coincidentally, Forbes published a story about how the Lakers three years ago had an average ticket price on the secondary market $150 higher than the Clippers—but that margin has been cut to $70 now. The Lakers have dropped behind both the Heat and Knicks in average ticket price on the secondary market. According to TiqIQ.com, you can get a seat for the next Lakers home game Friday night against Memphis for just $20. With another nondescript opponent, Detroit, coming in Sunday night, you can attend that game for $17.”