Sports

Lakers Parade 2009: Video & Pics From LA Championship Celebration

by Jon Azpiri | June 17, 2009 at 01:38 pm

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Thousands of fans lined the streets of downtown Los Angeles early Wednesday for the Lakers victory parade.

Fans lined Figueroa St. to watch the championship Lakers squad as they drove by in fire trucks and double-decker buses. Close to 90,000 people filled the Los Angeles Coliseum to watch the Lakers victory celebration.

LA police were out in force during the parade, enforcing a strict no-alcohol policy.

If you come in and you're drinking, you're drunk and you're misbehaving, you're going to be arrested," he said. "Clear and simple. We're going to have a very significant number of officers in that crowd -- plainclothes and uniform. We will have zero tolerance for any type of misbehavior."

During the celebration at the Coliseum, Lakers players thanked the crowd for their support. Spanish-born Lakers center Pau Gasol thanked fans in English and Spanish.

The biggest cheer of the day was for NBA playoffs MVP Kobe Bryant. Many fans were holding up signs with the phrase "Kobe Diem," a variation of the Latin phrase Carpe Diem which means "Seize the Day." Many Lakers players were wearing a Nike t-shirts featuring a graphic of a cork from a champagne bottle with the words "Carpe Diem" written on it.

Other Lakers players were wearing various Lakers championship shirts. Kobe Bryant wore a special Nike 4 Rings t-shirt that featured a puppet hand with four championship rings on it. The shirt was a reference to a series of popular Nike TV spots featuring puppet versions of Kobe and LeBron James.

Kobe told the crowd that four championships wasn't enough.