So when was the last time you saw Los Angeles happy?I mean, happy like it was happy Friday morning, when the big guys, Shaq and his titanic pals, trundled down Figueroa Street, not in sumptuous convertibles like a bunch of mere astronauts, but atop double-decker sightseeing buses.And the crowd went wild but in a nice way, a contained, friendly way. No one hit anyone, no one set fire — so far as I can tell — either to trash cans or to one another’s personal transportation — as they did two years ago, the last night the team won the trophy here. Of course, that was night and this was day. And of course the Lakers clinched it someplace else, on the hardwood of the East Rutherford Nets. Where cheery mobs have lately been in short supply.No, the joy had moved to Figueroa Street. Early on, even the cops looked happy: Lined up in force along the parade route, they wore smiles they had probably not shown the public since Academy Graduation Day.
Source: The Lakers Lesson | L.A. Weekly