Southern California has been spoiled when it comes to sports success as the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers have notably been among the best teams in their respective leagues for decades.
The 1980s, in particular, were especially successful for those two teams as the Showtime Lakers went to the NBA Finals eight times and won five championships while the Dodgers won two World Series’ of their own.
The players from those teams are still beloved in L.A., and that will be on display on Aug. 24 at Dodger Stadium. Not only are the Dodgers giving away a Showtime T-shirt to celebrate their annual Lakers Night, but franchise legends like Kurt Rambis, Mychal Thompson, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott and A.C. Green will also be in attendance to throw out the first pitch, per Matthew Moreno of Dodger Blue:
Kurt Rambis, Mychal Thompson, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott and A.C. Green are throwing out the first pitch and announcing #ITFDB on Saturday. https://t.co/A1JGKo1K97
— Matthew Moreno (@Matthew__Moreno) August 16, 2024
It should be a fun night at the ballpark for Lakers and Dodgers fans with the team taking on the Tampa Bay Rays at 6:10 p.m. PT.
The Lakers celebrations at Dodger Stadium will then continue on Aug. 25 when they are set to give away a Kobe Bryant jersey. With only the first 40,000 fans in attendance getting the Showtime T-shirt and Bryant jersey, those going to either game have been advised to arrive early.
On Saturday, it will be interesting to see which of Rambis, Thompson, Cooper, Scott and Green throw out the best first pitch. They all had great careers on the hardwood but as we’ve seen with past first pitches, that doesn’t always translate over to the baseball diamond.
Michael Cooper honored to have jersey retired by Lakers
This has been an exceptional year for Michael Cooper as he finally will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in October, a long-overdue honor.
Now that he has made the Hall of Fame, the Lakers also announced that they will be retiring Cooper’s No. 21 jersey during their Jan. 13 game against the San Antonio Spurs.
The Lakers don’t just retire anyone’s jersey, so Cooper talked about how much it means to him to go up in the rafters with all of the other legends that donned the purple and gold.
“If we weren’t on camera I would start crying, but I did my crying last night,” Cooper said on his podcast. “I got a chance to talk about it like an adult. That there is the ultimate award, because what that means is that every time you walk into the arena where the Lakers play, that jersey is going to be up there with some of the best that’s ever played this game.”
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