Fans flood Lakers party despite frets over cost

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tens of thousands of jubilant Los Angeles Lakers fans flooded downtown Wednesday, creating a tidal wave of purple and gold while celebrating the storied franchise’s 15th NBA title with a high-energy parade and rally paid for by the city’s movers and shakers.

People clad in the team colors stood 20 or more deep along the 2½-mile parade route from Staples Center to the packed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where players were greeted with a thunderous ovation and showered with purple and gold confetti.

Crowds at the stadium and along the parade route were rambunctious but mostly well-mannered, in contrast to the melee that broke out downtown after the Lakers clinched the championship in Florida. Eighteen people were arrested.

In the days before the event, much was made of its estimated $2 million cost, with critics complaining that a city a half-billion dollars in debt and facing layoffs could not afford the celebration.

But private donors joined the team and the owners of Staples Center in an unusual move to underwrite most of the cost.

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