Dozens of Los Angeles Lakers fans congregated outside Staples Center on Sunday night to celebrate news that LeBron James will be joining the team.
Motorists passing the Lakers’ home arena honked their horns. At one point, six young men chanting “Let’s go Lakers!’’ started dancing in front of a statue of Magic Johnson, appropriately enough.
It is Johnson, once the Lakers’ star point guard and now the club’s president of basketball operations, who has helped orchestrate the deal prying James from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“It just felt right as a Lakers fan, to come touch home base,’’ David Moghavem, 25, said of his decision to drive to Staples Center on Sunday night. “This is what the Lakers do.’’
Moghavem pointed out the Lakers’ decades-old tradition of “poaching’’ franchise players — bringing in Wilt Chamberlain from Philadelphia, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar from Milwaukee, Shaquille O’Neal from Orlando and now James from Cleveland.
“The Lakers dynasty attracts excellence,’’ he said.
Although it was mostly Lakers revelry Sunday night, a handful of Cavaliers stood on the perimeter — “This is a funeral,’’ one bemoaned — and Drake Heidepriem was among those caught in the middle.
An Ohio native and ardent Cavaliers fan, Heidepriem arrived wearing his No. 23 Cavaliers jersey with "JAMES" across the back, but also showed off his new phone screen saver, which pictured James in a Lakers uniform.
“It’s sad, but I’m excited for him,’’ said Heidepriem, 20, who is in Southern California for a summer internship. “I want to see him win some (championship) rings, show people why he’s the G.O.A.T.’’
That’s what Lakers fans are hoping for, too.
