Los Angeles Lakers fans partied outside the Staples Center in downtown L.A. on Sunday night, with no social distancing and few masks, after their team won its first NBA title in ten years.
The crowd was described as “mostly peaceful,” though “several people could be seen on local TV broadcasts trying to kick in the windshield of an LAPD cruiser,” the Los Angeles Times noted.
Police eventually broke up the party outside the Staples Center and arrested those who refused to leave.
The title came as the fulfillment of fans’ hopes following the arrival of LeBron James in 2018, and a consolation after the untimely death of retired Lakers great Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash early this year.
The shortened season and postseason were played in a “bubble” in Orlando, Florida, without any fans in attendance due to fears of spreading the coronavirus.
L.A.’s political leaders, including Mayor Eric Garcetti, have been particularly proud of the severity of their coronavirus restrictions, including one of the earliest mask mandates in the country.
Those restrictions, however, were dropped for Black Lives Matter protests (and riots) earlier this year — and for the NBA championship.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
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