Joel Seligman

Staff Writer

R.E.M. famously sang, “It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.” In the current situation, this statement applies very well. Milken and the world are doomed.

No, I am not talking about the Presidential Election, or politics in general. I am referring to the Lakers starting the season 3-5. Not only are the Lakers 3-5, but they are going to be without Steve Nash for another week or two. Doubling down on the misery, they just fired their head coach, Mike Brown.

As if that is not enough, they hired Mike D’Antoni, the former Knicks and Suns coach, over Laker great and fan favorite Phil Jackson. When asked if he was shocked about the hiring, Junior ’14 Jason Moghimi said, “I was, and Phil was shocked as well.”

There are mixed feelings about how the Lakers are doing to this point however. The opinions of people even at Milken are mixed about the Lakers’ struggles to this point. Some are confident the Lakers will turn around, some are happy that they are doing poorly, and some are worried about the Lakers season.

One very confident fan is Junior ’14 David Shadi. When asked if he was worried about the Lakers the day after their first win against Detroit, their first win of the season, Shadi said, “Not at all. Now that they have gotten their first win out of the way, the next sixty are coming straight to them and they’re gonna beat the Bulls’ record”, referring to the best record in a regular season, set by the Chicago Bulls in the 1995-96 season.

Some NBA fans, like Junior ’14 Eytan Wallace and the Milken librarian, Mr. Kates, are really enjoying watching the Lakers’ struggles. Wallace, a Clippers fan, said, “I like the Clippers a lot more. They have a better depth, and honestly, I think the Lakers really are overrated and it’s not a not a surprise to me that they are not doing well. So I hope that this city will turn into Clipper Nation.” Kates, a Celtics fan, said “Yeah, I grew up near Boston, so I’ve always been a Celtics fan. So if the Lakers are not doing well, that’s good by me.”

In addition, there are fans like Junior ’14 Dan Erdman, who are getting annoyed by people who are whining about the Lakers’ struggles. When asked after the Detroit win, Erdman said, “I mean, they are off to a slow start, one and three, but at the same time, it’s only four games into the season, and after two days, after two games, people are whining like babies about how they are not going to the finals.”

As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see if the Lakers follow the track of the Celtics or Heat after joining superstars together. Will they follow the Celtics, who went 29-3 in their first 32 games, or continue like the Heat, who went 9-8 in their first 17 games?

While Lakers are only eight games into the season, it is too soon to make a final judgement about whether they are going to win the championships or not, but the question will hang over the Lakers all season.