Fans were given Pride-themed T-shirts with a Lakers logo in rainbow colors. Courtside seats were dressed in rainbow colors. Team owner Jeanie Buss wore a pride shirt and a pink streak through her hair. And the team honored Jason Collins, who became the league’s first openly gay player in 2013, with a Lace of Unity award.
“This is incredible,” Collins said. “This is my hometown, Los Angeles. I still live here. It’s great to see. It’s great to be here for the first-ever Pride Night game. Seeing the Lakers support the LGBT community like this, it’s incredible.”
As he spoke, Collins was interrupted twice, once by his Mark Madsen, who played basketball at Stanford just as Collins did, and a second time by Michael Beasley, the Lakers forward who was one of the NBA players to participate in the New York City Pride Parade this summer.