Introduction

Hi, my name is David Yang. I'm a 4th-year English major at UCI. I'm 21 years old, and I have spent a good chunk of it watching basketball. Some of my earliest memories constitute of seeing my dad relaxing on the living room floor, watching a Laker game. The 5-year-old David would join him, imitating his position. (He would lie down on his side, resting his head on his hand, the force of which would travel down to his elbow, which rested on the ground.) I would try to lie down this way, but I always found it quite uncomfortable, as I kept falling off to the side. (I find it very comfortable today.) I thought that if my dad did it, then I should do it, too. That's just how I thought back in those days.

I remember I didn't care that much about the game. I didn't like the Bulls. They wore red and black, and everyone looked so intense and menacing. Though, ironically, I liked Dennis Rodman (the most intense and menacing of them all sans Jordan), but only because of his colorful hair. It wasn't until '96, when I was 7-years-old, that I found a favorite player and team to root for. I was watching the game one day, when my hyung Joon asked me, "Do you know who that is?"

"Nope," I replied honestly. I actually didn't know a single name in the league.

"That's Kobe Bryant," he told me, with a hint of awe in his voice. "He's only 18 years old. Eighteen years old! He's the youngest basketball player to have ever played in the history of the NBA!" And just like, because I admired Joon, and because Joon admired Kobe Bryant, I admired Kobe Bryant. From that day forward, he became my favorite basketball player in the world, and the Lakers my favorite basketball team. I would watch the Lakers play, rooting heavily for Kobe, though I grew attached to Nick Van Exel, Elden Campbell, Eddie Jones, and Shaquille O'neal as well. But watching Kobe was something else. He was so athletic, so skilled, so good. He made it to the starting line-up of the All-Star team in only his second year. It was beautiful watching Kobe's game get better and better every year.

I rooted for the Lakers as they fell to Stockton, Malone, and the Jazz in back to back years. I would literally cry in frustration, believing that the Lakers would never win a championship in my life time since they last won it in the year I was born (1988.) And even though I hated the Jazz, I rooted for them in the Finals, because I wanted to believe that we lost to the best team in the league. But no; there was this other guy who was not to be denied: Michael Jordan. Yeah, I was 9-years old when I saw MJ strip the ball away from Malone, run down the court, and bury a sinker in the face of the defeated Bryon Russell that eventually became one of the most memorable shots in the history of the game. I didn't understand the historical significance at the time, being as young as I was, but I do now, and at the least, I can say that I saw it when it happened.

In '99, I saw Duncan and Robinson, the Twin Towers, dominate the Jeff Vandy-led Knicks (remember Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell?). Then I remember some of the happiest years of my life when the Lakers won their first championship. I remember the Blazer meltdown in the Western Conference Finals. I remember the "Let's Go Lakers!" chants in my 6th-grade locker room, as people beat their fists to the clang of the lockers. I remember the heated rivalry between the Lakers and the Rick Adelman-led Kings (Webber/Divac/Bibby/Christie/Stojakovic). I remember Yao Ming. I remember LeBron James. I remember the Williams/Paul debate. I remember the Howard/Okafor debate. I remember the Spurs winning every other year. I remember the balanced attack by the Larry Brown-led Pistons. I remember Wade and Donaghy cheating the Heat to victory. (I'm just bitter since I lost a 5-dollar bet [Hey, 5 dollars is a lot of money!]). I remember the Celtics outplaying the Lakers in the Finals. And I remember very well our return to dominance.

I'm not a bandwagon jumper. I live in LA. I've grown up in LA. I've endured through Smush Parker/Kwame Brown seasons. And I loved the Lakers no less than I do today. I've been through it all. I've witnessed all the major trials and tribulations of the Lakers history over the last decade.

I know a lot about basketball. I watch it. I read about it. I play it. I study it. And now, I write about it.