reblogged from espn.com
LOS ANGELES — Tens of thousands of jubilant Los Angeles Lakers fans lined a two-mile route Monday, many waving purple and gold flags and T-shirts that read “Back 2 Back” as they cheered the NBA champions during a parade to celebrate the team’s second consecutive title.
Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum and Ron Artest waved to the throngs from a flatbed 18-wheeler as fans yelled and snapped pictures. Many waited hours for a glimpse of their heroes as they rolled past in a convoy that also included double-decker buses and fire engines.
“We saw them for three minutes, but it was worth every minute,” said Trisha Siqueiros, 29, who drove two hours from Indio with her father, Ron Nieto, 51, for the parade. “The only thing is they should have driven a little slower.”
Police reported a largely well-behaved crowd. Seven people were arrested for various minor offenses, police said. Authorities did not provide a crowd estimate.
The hour-long parade capped a season that ended Thursday with an 83-79 Game 7 victory over the Boston Celtics and a 16th NBA title for the Lakers.
Team members vowed to play hard for a 17th championship next season.
“When next season starts, we’ll be ready, that’s for sure,” Bryant told reporters. He added that of his five titles, “this is the best one by far because it was the hardest one to get.”
Artest, who donned a top hat with purple and gold feathers and sported an unlit cigar during the ride, also said the team plans to buckle down. “We have to party for another week, then start putting in the work and write history again next year,” he said.
The parade, which took the Lakers from Staples Center downtown to the Galen Center at the University of Southern California, started with the purple-clad Laker Girls, who received choruses of wolf-whistles.
The tribute also included past Lakers greats Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The crowd screamed “Ma-gic! Ma-gic!” when they spotted the player-turned businessman.
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