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Given their proximity to Hollywood, the Los Angeles Lakers have plenty of famous fans. People such as actor Jack Nicholson have been regular attendees at Lakers games for decades and have lived and died with the team through thick and thin.
Flea, the bassist of the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers, is another well-known fan of the Purple and Gold who can often be seen at their games. He has been a fervent fan for decades, going back to the days when he and his bandmates were relative unknowns and were looking to break out.
In an interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, he talked about how he first became a Lakers fan back in the day.
Via Lakers Daily:
“My mom took me in ‘75 to a Lakers game right when they got Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar], and we’re up in the nosebleeds in The Forum watching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and I just fell in love with him,” Flea recalls. “And I’d start seeing in the newspapers different things he would say and things he would do; and it was just that hook shot and the way that he moved and the goggles. … He was just this extraterrestrial being, you know?”
That love carried over into the team’s flagship Showtime era in the 1980s.
“Those Showtime Lakers: Magic [Johnson] and Kareem and then they have Michael Cooper and Byron Scott and Mychal Thompson. … That whole team was so beautiful to me. Magic Johnson would run the fast break and just…didn’t know what was going to happen. I’m telling you man, it was thrilling! You couldn’t take your eyes off them.”
Through all the ups and downs that have occurred over the last three decades, Flea has remained loyal to the Lakers. While he still holds a special place in his heart for Johnson, he acknowledges that LeBron James is an incredible player in his own right.
“No I don’t. They’re both phenomenal players. Grant Hill was great. LeBron could be the greatest player of all time. It’s just different though. It’s that fast break with Magic — he passed BEHIND his head! And it wasn’t just to be fancy, he did it because he KNEW it was going to work and no one knew it was coming, you know?”
To him, Johnson was simply a one-of-a-kind player and perfect for Showtime.
“Magic was a 6’9” point guard with eyes in the back of his head who could do it ALL. Now LeBron might be the most similar in terms of the size and all the abilities and I think LeBron has grown to be a better shooter than Magic but not like that. Not the fast break.”
Flea, whose real name is Michael Balzary, has been the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ bassist since it formed in 1982. He told Robinson that he hasn’t missed a Lakers game since the early 1980s.
#LeBron #James #G.O.A.T
