EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday defended the decision to stage a victory parade for the NBA champion Lakers, saying it’s important to celebrate even at a time of high unemployment and home foreclosures.
Villaraigosa said that some of the city’s wealthiest power brokers have kicked in $850,000 of nearly $1 million in city costs for today’s parade and rally. The Lakers and AEG, which owns Staples Center, are paying for another $1 million in production costs.
“We intend to do everything we can to minimize the cost to the city,” the mayor said at a news conference on the Lakers’ practice court in El Segundo. “If we hadn’t had a parade, you’ve have a whole other bevy of people criticizing the city. How could we do that? How could we not celebrate this tremendous Laker victory?”
Villaraigosa identified the private donors as Casey and Laura Wasserman, Jerry and Margie Perenchio, Haim and Cheryl Saban, Eli and Edythe Broad, Joe and Sharon Hernandez of Melissa’s Fruits and Vegetables, Ed and Gayle Roski and the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in Highland, Calif.
The mayor and other officials had sought donations after critics blasted the idea of using city money when Los Angeles is considering layoffs to close a half-billion-dollar budget gap.
Bryant to visit ‘Tonight Show’
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — Kobe Bryant is going to visit the “Tonight Show” with Conan O’Brien today. Bryant led the Los Angeles Lakers to their 15th NBA championship on Sunday with a five-game victory over the Orlando Magic.
LeBron visits Obama
Fully recovered after undergoing surgery two weeks ago to have a benign growth on his jaw removed, NBA MVP LeBron James is keeping a busy schedule.
On Monday, Cleveland’s All-Star forward and a group of close friends visited President Barack Obama and were given a tour of the West Wing before attending the U.S. premiere of “More Than A Game,” a documentary about the basketball star and his friends’ rise to national champions while playing at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, Ohio.
On Tuesday, James and pop music star Rihanna celebrated the opening of the Carol’s Daughter Hand &Foot Spa in New York.
“More Than A Game”, which chronicles how James and his tight circle of friends accomplished a childhood goal, kicked off the AFI SilverDocs Documentary Film Festival in Silver Spring, Md. Several of James’ teammates attended the premiere as well as former teachers, administrators, alumni from the school and the film’s director, Kris Belman.
TV ratings for NBA finals down
NEW YORK — Television ratings for the NBA finals are down from last year. The five games on ABC between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic averaged an 8.4 rating. That’s down close to 10 percent from last season’s 9.3 for the six-game Lakers-Celtics series, which was boosted by Boston’s large market and traditional rivalry with LA. It’s still up 35 percent from the record-low 6.2 for San Antonio’s sweep of Cleveland two years ago. The five games averaged nearly 14 million viewers and were the five most-watched programs so far in June.
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