A CELEBRATION In Quotes

“The younger generation is sick of hearing about [the apathy of L.A. fans]. We’re starting to change that. We hear about New York and their championship teams. Now we’ve got one.”

Rob Byer,

Laker fan from Santa Clarita

“I just want to say I love Brian Shaw. May I kiss you Brian Shaw?”

Shaquille O’Neal at DWP

“People get so stupid when they start drinking. It’s hot out here and hopefully they won’t get too rowdy. The world is watching.”

Judy Hoofe,

Laker fan, on the possibility of a fan disturbance

“I didn’t see no Shaq. I didn’t see no Kobe. Nothing but Magic Johnson. He’s the only one I recognized. I came down here in this hot sun to support them and that’s all I saw. I’m very disappointed.”

Louise Wilson,

Laker fan who

brought her young son

“Well, you can’t satisfy everybody.”

Chick Hearn,

when fans booed Mayor Riordan after his introduction

“The Lakers gave this city a reason to pull together for the right reasons. It shows that you can have a championship and not have any negative images associated with it. . . . It’s really sad when people assess the success of a championship by the fewer number of people that die.”

Bernard Parks,

Los Angeles police chief

“I love L.A.!”

Slava Medvedenko,

Laker forward

“You’d better. You’ve got no place else to go.”

Chick Hearn

“I thought last year without question was the biggest parade I’d ever seen. This was bigger. There was purple as far as the eye can see. . . . I get tears in my eyes when I think about it. Tell me another singular act that can put so many people out on the streets--people of all races and religions--that are all rooting for one common cause.”

Bill Bertka,

Laker assistant coach

“The demographics have changed [since the parades of the Showtime era], but the feeling is still the same. I guess we didn’t have as many players performing rap songs, though.”

James Worthy,

former Laker forward