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Later this month, for the first time in over a year, the Los Angeles Lakers are going to let fans in to watch them play. They’re still working with the city to determine how many people they’ll allow into Staples Center and finalize their re-opening plan, but on April 15 against the Boston Celtics, the goal is to at least have some fans in the building.
No matter how many it is, head coach Frank Vogel says the team is thrilled about it.
“That’s going to be super exciting for our whole community. I know our guys, our coaches, our organization will be really excited about it,” Vogel said after the team announced the news. “Our players on the floor will notice the energy that our fans bring, and obviously we don’t know exactly how many fans will be there yet, but just having some in there will bring us great energy.”
That last part is no small thing. The Lakers currently have a better record on the road (15-8) than they do at home (16-11), something many around the team have chalked up to the players feeding off of the enthusiasm of fans, even opposing ones. Now they’ll get to soak in that appreciation from their own fanbase.
But even beyond that, just on a human level, Vogel is thrilled that the slowed spread in what was formerly a COVID-19 epicenter has made this re-opening possible after the brutal year Los Angeles has had.
“I’m just happy for the L.A. community. One of everybody’s favorite things to do is go to Lakers games, and they haven’t been able to do that during this pandemic,” Vogel said. “I’m just really excited about this news.”
It’s fair to say that just about everyone else reading this probably is, too.
As mentioned above, the Lakers are still figuring out how many people will be allowed in and what the process to get tickets will be, so stay tuned to Silver Screen and Roll for further updates on all of that and more.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.