One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Keeping It Classy: GQ Calls Lakers Fans "Starfuckers"
Photo by Kelly Ida Scope via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
Congratulations, Lakers fans! In a GQ list of the "Worst Sports Fans in America," you have been deemed "Starfuckers." The magazine says devotees to the NBA's purple-and-gold team are "fair weather," because they abandoned the team when Magic Johnson left in 1991, and did the same in 2004 when Shaquille O'Neal moved on.
Plus, says the magazine, the crowd at Staples is more of a "bar scene" than a ball game, with fans in the seats who "can't be bothered to clap—their hands are too busy texting." (Ever try to teach an English 101 class, GQ? Welcome to the txt generation.) Pre-occupied d-bags can then schmooze over plates of $21 nachos (well, that's true) and get their cars brought around by the valet when it's time to go.
Of course, not all the fans can afford to ignore the game in person, and GQ seems to forget that some of the fans who aren't starfuckers are really destructive fuckers. You know, the kind who like to set things on fire and smash up a bunch of cars...because the team they love won the big championship.
And what about the in-between folks? The long-standing fans who stuck through the Magic-less or Shaq-less years, the ones who cheered without turning over a taxicab when the team took the championship, or the ones who watch the game attentively? Sorry, guys. Once again, Los Angeles is all about the celeb factor.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
