The Los Angeles Lakers are up there with the New York Knicks has having the most celebrity fans in the NBA. But one fan has denounced his fandom from the LA Lakers, and it’s hard to fault his reasoning.
George Lopez, the Los Angeles native who has lived there his entire life, has been one of the biggest celebrity Laker fans in recent history. He’d routinely be seen sitting courtside celebrating his team, whether they were playing championship games during the great days of Kobe Bryant or the period after where they missed the playoffs multiple years in a row.
Lopez was recently a guest on Shaquille O’Neal’s, “The Big Podcast with Shaq,” where the famed actor and comedian spoke with the NBA legend and Basketball Hall-of-Famer. Among the topics discussed, however, was the controversial reason that Lopez no longer supports or watches his Lakers.
“You know, Shaq, I have to tell you honestly that I don’t follow the Lakers anymore because Mark Walter owns detention centers, runs them for profit,” George Lopez told Shaquille O’Neal and co-host Adam Lefkoe. “So as soon as I found he also owns the Dodgers. So as soon as I found that out, I disassociated myself from the Dodgers and the Lakers. Unfortunately, I lost two teams in one week. I lost two aunts in one week. It didn’t hurt as much as losing the Lakers and the Dodgers.”
Lopez added more context to the loss of his Dodgers fandom as well.
“But also to me, the idea that Dodger Stadium was built on on a Latino neighborhood that was, people were removed, forcibly removed in the, you know, late 50s. And then to have an owner, and I was friends with the guy. I mean, very friendly. And once I realized that, I thought, you know, an old cholo told me at Dodger Stadium maybe 15 years ago that that I was wrong for being there. And I kind of kind of took it, you know, to heart a little bit. So went to the games. And then when when I found out that they run that thing for profit, and they’re part of the, you know, ICE, and where they put people, I disassociated myself.”
George Lopez: “I don’t follow the Lakers anymore. Mark Walter owns detention centers, runs them for profit. Also owns the Dodgers. As soon as I found that out, I disassociated myself from the Dodgers and the Lakers. I lost two teams in one week” pic.twitter.com/aQeD7sYrrJ
New Los Angeles Lakers owner Mark Walter purchased a majority stake in the team last year. Through Walter’s Guggenheim Partners, Walter held a stake in private prisons and detention centers.
