Los Angeles Lakers Sign Kylor Kelley And Fans Have Questions

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Center Kylor Kelley’s signing with the Lakers has definitely left the larger Lakers fan base with mixed feelings. The announcement of the Kelley signing was accompanied by a graphic in which the one thing featured was a photo of Kelley in a Lakers jersey. This drew criticism from some, who felt his addition was of no real benefit to a championship-caliber cruiser and a sign of poor judgement by the front office.

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At 7 feet, Kelley is a big man, albeit a rather unknown one for the Lakers. Prior to playing for the Mavericks and New Orleans Pelicans, he was with the Lakers G-League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. The signing marked the first time a majority of the fanbase had heard about him, which a large section of the fanbase responded to with a “who?” And in no time, the more fervent fans began accusing the “who” crowd of bandwagoning. The irony was best put into words by one fan, claiming, “It’s insane the amount of Lakers fans who are outing themselves as bandwagons right today. Damn near 90% are saying ‘who’… Lakers fans should know he’s been on the South Bay Lakers for almost two years.”

The move seemed to be targeted at improving the team’s size and rim protection, something that has been a sore spot in the team for years and has been taken advantage of by elite big men like Nikola Jokic and Rudy Gobert. There were some fans who were cautiously optimistic, one saying, “He is a good addition. Those who don’t know, he is a good rim protector. Having 3 7 footers is not a bad thing,” which echoed the sentiment of another who understood the basketball rationale, “Right, fight fire with fire. When they beat us literally thanks to Gobert, nah, gotta bring in bigs.”

Most of the comments were critical and dismissive, though. The question of whether a player with very little NBA experience would be able to do anything useful against the best in the league very quickly became an issue that a majority weighed on the negative side. One fan posted, “For what? Is he supposed to guard Jokic? Gobert about to have a field day on buddy,” and others sounded even worse about the way the team is run. One of them responded, “😂 man whoever is doing the decision making for that team needs to be fired,”

The Lakers fanbase is often entertaining, and the sarcasm from the story has sparked it once again for the Lakers signing. Several ocean waves of users seem to instantly notice the resemblance to the former Laker and the current Assistant coach for Sacramento Kings, Luke Walton, with numerous comments asking “Are you sure that’s not Luke Walton?” One user used a pop-culture analogy, stating, “He look like he got a best friend named Stanley Yelnats,” poking fun with a reference to the character in the novel “Holes.”

Without a doubt, the most polarizing comment came from a user who brought up the alliterative possibilities of the roster, saying “Knecht, Kelley and Kleeber can be the KKK trio,” and was mostly ignored by the others on the thread but shows the randomness of internet discussions. During all the jokes and criticism, a small group of people, in between, pleaded for some kind of grace for the player, and one said, “Give him a chance keep putting tht work in,” while the other said, “Bro was on our d league team and was picked up by the mavs. bruh this homie is a diamond in the ruff.”

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Kelley’s signing will likely be an Exhibit 10 contract which essentially makes him a training camp roster invite, with a chance to make the South Bay roster. While the southern branch is not a consistent charity case for the former, the strong reactions to Kelley’s signing show that the Laker’s franchise is in the global spotlight. People all over the world are scrutinizing and debating every Lakers transaction, no matter its small scale. To the most passionate Lakers supporters, every move is looked at through the lens of winning a title, and even signing a lesser-known big man is analyzed in the same manner. This speaks to the culture of the Laker’s devoted fanbase, which, like a fine wine, is simultaneously deeply enthusiastic and conflicted over the path the team should take, which, at least in the Lakers jargon universe, is always defined by the uniform in purple and gold. Kelley’s signing will be evaluated on the basketball court, but for today, the court of public opinion is very active.