Fisher Made the Shot Heard ‘Round Los Angeles

If the Lakers are the heartbeat of the city, it’s a good thing Derek Fisher was there to apply the defibrillator.

Mark Lopez

Long Beach

*

Derek Fisher: the Kirk Gibson of basketball.

Tarik Trad

Glendale

*

While winning Game 5 against the Spurs, the Lakers also ended up shooting the sequel to a 1970s basketball movie. The updated version: “D. Fish That Saved Los Angeles.”

Steve Unite

Los Angeles

*

Nice protest, Spurs. If Derek Fisher’s shot didn’t count, then Robert Horry’s three-point attempt in Game 5 last year should have counted because the rim was 0.00005 of a millimeter too narrow.

Chris Johnson

Hawthorne

*

The Lakers’ last-second rescue from the abyss, possibly vaulting them to another NBA championship, is a bad example to set for children, because it teaches them that procrastinators may be rewarded.

This makes it difficult for me to persuade my children to do their homework in advance of the teachers’ deadlines, because using the Lakers’ example, there is nothing wrong with waiting until the last moment to get the job done.

Kevin Park

North Hollywood

*

After reading last Saturday’s letters to the editor about the Lakers’ being down 0-2 against the Spurs, I just had to shake my head with disgust. I hope all you quitters and naysayers didn’t break your ankles jumping off the bandwagon and you hurry to renew your Clipper season seats for next year. My Lakers will be closing out the Spurs tonight.

Mark Lopez

Long Beach

*

Shhhhhhhhh! What’s that rustling noise? Oh yeah, it’s all those so-called Laker fans digging in their closets and garages, looking for their Laker flags to put on their cars.

Alvin M. Okamura

Encino

*

Make up your mind, Bill Plaschke. After a Laker win, your articles are about how you knew all along how great they were. And on days after Laker losses, your articles are I-told-you-so rants about how their egos can’t mesh into a championship team.

Objectivity is not swinging from one end of the pendulum to the next. How about you try not to be that guy? You know, the guy who buys the champs’ jersey right after they win it and claims to have been their fan the whole time.

Don’t be that guy.

Michael Martucci

Sacramento

*

I have made a wish on behalf of Derek Fisher, for all Lakers, all those associated with the organization, for all their fans. It is that this team can now come together and act as the team they clearly can be.

To put aside all petty squabbles over whose team it is.

To stop all the snide little asides whenever there is a loss.

To embrace each other as teammates and work together to win a championship that they are so very capable of winning.

I know it took you longer than a half a second to read my wish. But it took me less than that to make it. It took four-tenths of a second.

John Blackman

Los Angeles

*

If Jerry Buss decides to let Phil Jackson go to placate Kobe Bryant’s ego, he will be making a mistake that will cost Laker fans dearly in the future. If Buss, Bryant (and O’Neal) can’t see beyond their egos and realize that without Jackson they would still be without a championship, no more need be said.

Joe Shell

Dana Point

*

I want to commend David Ferrell on his insightful series on the Lakers. It is really a shame that the team concept and goal to win has been replaced by the huge ego-driven prima donna syndrome of today’s NBA stars.

The real missing ingredient in Laker team chemistry is Jerry West, as he is proving in Memphis. He had the ability to sit people down and defuse this type of nonsense, but without the management team being on the same page and support from above coming from Jerry Buss, team harmony is a pipe dream.

Jim Ford

Carmel, Ind.

*

Enough with all the references to an “exhausted” Kobe or the timelines depicting his “busy” days as he shuttles back and forth from Colorado court appearances and Staples Center on game nights. His schedule is typical of most business travelers, absent the door-to-door limo rides and private charter jets.

Mike Vilello

Irvine