Lakers de-thrown Kings

Los Angeles and Sacramento face off in NBA preseason game in front of largest crowd in Save Mart Center history

By Darrell Copeland

At the Save Mart Center, people are used to seeing the Bulldogs vs. the Broncos, Bulldogs vs. the Spartans, and the—Kings vs. Lakers?

Fresno played host to the NBA exhibition game between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that the home team Lakers won 105-80 in front of the largest attendance ever in the Save Mart Center.

The Save Mart Center is used to having millions of dollars in it. It was built with over 100 of them, but Tuesday night, players who make millions graced Fresno State’s court.

One of the players, former Bulldogs guard Courtney Alexander, was supposed to make his return to Fresno in front of his home fans.

Alexander didn’t play, instead, he sat on the bench, at the very end, next to the water jugs, in his black sweats, coming nowhere close to getting a cheer.

Still, fans still got a thrill from the first NBA game to be played in the Save Mart Center.

Before the game, Brian Grant, a member of the Lakers, welcomed the fans to the game while standing at center court, which was followed by a song called, “I Love L.A.”

There was a member of the Lakers who did know he was in Fresno, and he praised what he saw.

Lakers head coach Rudy Tomjanovich enjoyed the only part of Fresno he was able to visit.

“I’d have a vacation in this arena,” Tomjanovich said.

Aside from a Lakers’ victory, Lakers forward Lamar Odom will remember the ones who cheered him and his teammates.

“I guess the people,” Odom said. “Everybody opened up, showed us some love.”

The extent of Odom’s knowledge of Fresno wasn’t very broad, as he was a bit off cue when it came to the size of the city.

“I know it’s a small town and all,” Odom said.

The Lakers were led in scoring by Caron Butler with 18, while team superstar Kobe Bryant pitched in with 10. The Kings high scorers were Darius Songaila and Anwar Ferguson with 10 apiece.

The small town of Fresno was treated to more than just an NBA game. The Laker girls showed up in full force, making up for the lack of clothing that showed up with them.

Because the game was not part of any Bulldogs ticket package, the average age of the attendee was slightly younger, meaning complaints of Laker Girl attire was minimal, to say the least.

Aside from all the NBA personalities being here, the game was somewhat reminiscent of a Fresno State game.

There was the usual atmosphere that you’d expect at the game. There was the player taunting, the security tough guys, and the all-important drunk guys wooing at the cheerleaders, in this case, the Laker Girls.

For at least the fourth quarter, Fresno could have been mistaken for Los Angeles. In L.A., they leave early, say after the third quarter, to beat traffic, only to get caught in traffic anyway.

Well, the very same thing happened in Fresno, as the announced sellout crowd of 16,116 slowly filed their way out, very similar to L.A.

To make it that much more Lakery for Fresnans, the Lakers brought all of their usuals, including the P.A. announcer and the “Kiss Me” timeout session.

The “Kiss Me” session received the most attention and cheers, as people of all ages and races made out to the song, you guessed it—“Kiss Me.”

NBA fans of Fresno and the Valley got their share of the NBA atmosphere Tuesday night, as they saw the NBA’s most heated rivalry in their own backyard.

With both the men’s and women’s Fresno State basketball teams starting up, we’ll see if the hometown Bulldogs mean as much to the fans as Los Angeles.