Countless celebrities attend Los Angeles Lakers games, especially during the playoffs, and they have been doing so since at least the Showtime era. Long ago, it became the “cool” thing for celebrities to do in L.A., much like the popular kids in high school attending an A-list party thrown by a classmate on a Saturday night.
Some feel that a good number of these famous people aren’t true basketball fans and that they go to Lakers games just to be seen, or to discuss deals during the contest. But one famous actor has always been a die-hard Lakers fan since the 1970s.
Actor Jack Nicholson, a three-time Academy Award winner, has been a fixture at home games, to the point where he is almost as well-known for being a fan as he is for films such as “The Shining” and “Terms of Endearment.”
The 86-year-old has conspicuously been absent from games since the beginning of last season amidst rumors that his health is failing. But he showed up for Game 6 against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday in his usual courtside perch, and he shared a touching embrace with LeBron James prior to tip-off.
With the “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” star in attendance, the Lakers made the Grizzlies go cuckoo by delivering a 125-85 beatdown to advance to the Western Conference semifinals for only the second time since the Kobe Bryant era.
With the Purple and Gold poised for a deep playoff run and Nicholson back where he belongs at Crypto.com Arena, it’s starting to feel like the good old days in the City of Angels.
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