Justin Sampas - Fan of the Week

Published by lakers-fan.com on March 1st, 2011 | Tagged lakers, lakers fan of the week

Justin Sampas has been watching the Lakers since he was six years old.  He is a die hard fan.  We interviewed Justin over skype and asked him to reflect on his favorite Lakers game of all time…

Game 7: Lakers vs. Trailblazers in 2000

The series was ties 3-3 and this was a big test for the Shaq-Kobe Lakers as they played against a Trailblazer lineup that was loaded with veteran talent. I was at Woodstocks Pizza in Isla Vista California (college town for UCSB) and the Laker fans were out in full force. In addition to living in Southern California close to Los Angeles a former UCSB star was currently on the Lakers roster, Brian Shaw was to have a memorable game.

The first 3 quarters sucked for Laker fans, the trailblazers hold a commanding lead and slowly start breaking away by the end of the 3^rd quarter. Their bench was deep and they just controlled the pace of the game and it looks as if they were going to the NBA Finals, all was not well in Lakerland. Woodstocks Pizza was quiet and the fans including myself were bracing to watch one more quarter of the season as the lakers season would come to an end.

A spark was ignited on the Lakers sidelines and they came out and took control of the game. They started a run where the whole team got involved, Horry, Fox, fisher, Shaw, and others helped in the run that was completed with a Kobe to Shaq alley-oop to take the lead for good. Woodstocks went crazy!!! There was college students dancing on the tables as the time expired and people poured into the streets chanting “Lakers”. I preceded to a friend’s house a couple of blocks away that had watched it at home and he had a Lakers party that lasted well into the night. The Lakers would win three championships in a row for the 2000, 2001, 2002 seasons.

- Justin Sampas