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In Quinn Cook, the Los Angeles Lakers are getting a player that has been a lifelong fan of the team and its rich history. However, as big of a Lakers fan as Cook was growing up, no one was a bigger fan of the purple and gold than his late father, Ted Cook, who passed away when Cook was just 14 years old.
During a recent interview with Chris McGee of Spectrum SportsNet, Cook said that his father was a huge Lakers fan, which is no surprise considering they won nine titles during his lifetime:
“Obviously anybody who knows my family knows he was the biggest Lakers fan ever, so I know he hasn’t stopped smiling since I signed. It’s been a tremendous ride so far for myself and my family, but I don’t it’s hit yet and I just can’t wait to put that jersey on for real and when it starts for real.”
Cook has won a championship of his own since his father’ passing, but he said winning a title in Los Angeles would mean more to him because of what the Lakers meant to him and his father:
“Yeah, it’s something that I think about every single day. I fantasize about it every single a day. I can tell you every Laker thing since I’ve been living. I watched every game, every playoffs every championship, so like I was telling my brother last night, it’s still surreal coming in here and you see all these legendary numbers, you see all the trophies, you see the years that they won it and it’s just more motivation to try and get one this year.”
Cook’s journey from undrafted player to rotation point guard and NBA champion already makes him easy to root for, but he and his father’s history as fans of the purple and gold should make it especially easy for Lakers fans to root for him. The fact that he’s a pretty good basketball player shouldn’t hurt his case, either.
Hopefully he, James, Davis and the rest of the team can get it done for his dad this season.
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