Kurt Streeter of the Los Angeles Times spent 1,200 words this morning telling us Baron Davis belongs with the Lakers... or something. Fine, whatever, Boom is from L.A. and he has movie star friends. Super awesome. But this? He plays in Oakland. And it's not right. They don't deserve him. We do. [...] People who love him, who have been there from the start, they're not from Oakland. Snoop Dogg. Kate Hudson. Penny Marshall. Jessica Alba. Owen Wilson. Brian Grazer. Those kinds of folks aren't Oakland. They're not even San Francisco. They're pixie dust. Hollywood. [...] Those games up north looked like Lakers games during the best of times. Wall-to-wall crazies. [...]The Warriors fan base -- those cats who filled seats every night over a dozen years with no playoffs -- don't deserve it, but supporters of a team who's won three titles this decade do? A town who went ballistic -- literally ballistic -- during the loudest playoff series in memory don't deserve him, because he belongs to Brian F. Grazer?
Not to cast aspersions on Mr. Grazer or Owen Wilson, God forbid -- but do you think those folks would've "been there from the start" if Boom didn't attend "a tony, Westside school, where athletic talent helped him win a scholarship, and where he met Hudson and Dustin Hoffman's kids and Denzel Washington's too?" You think this column gets published if Baron went to the same high school as, say, Tyson Chandler?
I'd like to call this subconscious classism, but it's not even hidden. Streeter says Baron belongs in L.A. because Oakland isn't upscale -- Hollywood, pixie dust, whatever the hell you call it. He's saying rich people deserve to watch the most flashy, most exciting players alive. Poorer folk? They'll be fine with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, right?
And it's just
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. He just mad because an #8 seed team (warriors) move to the next round and the lakers (#7 seed) didn't. And that was the weakest insult I ever heard. Don't get mad just because us people of Oakland are too HYPHEEEEE for you.
Posted at 10:40PM on Aug 5th 2007 by Laneygurl
2. WE LOVE YOU BARON!!!!!
Posted at 10:47PM on Aug 5th 2007 by Laneygurl
3. well said, my brother. and you're not even a Warriors fan.
Posted at 1:30AM on Aug 6th 2007 by Miss Gossip
4. Baron Davis should stay in Oakland and not the Los Angeles Lakers. He is happy where he is since he left the New Orleans Hornets.
Posted at 1:39AM on Aug 6th 2007 by George B Vieto
5. Who is Brian F Grazer? I've heard of Brian Thomas Grazer..... Geez, if you're going to rant, do it right!
Posted at 12:00PM on Aug 6th 2007 by moi here
6. Well-stated. A lot of overt nonsense in the original "Baron to LA" article including classism but mostly it's an opine for something the Lakers fans will never have- True Grit and Determination. We don't teach it here in the "OakTown" area, rather, it is a necessary element of being non-SoCal. Carry on...
Posted at 2:05PM on Aug 6th 2007 by Old Skool Raidah
7. As a Southern Californian/Laker fan, allow me to co-sign that that article was atrociously bad.
Posted at 9:40PM on Aug 7th 2007 by Carter Blanchard