Sherman Oaks Weeps Briefly for the Lakers

By the time the Los Angeles Lakers game was ending Sunday, nobody in the crowded bar of the El Torito Mexican Restaurant on Ventura Boulevard was watching the four TV sets.

The outcome of the game had already been determined before the clock ran out. The Lakers were blown out by the Dallas Mavericks, 122-86, as the Mavericks completed a four-game sweep in the best-of-seven NBA playoff series.

Wayne Wilson, a medical equipment salesman, was talking to a blond woman who was nursing a beer.

"I'm not surprised," the woman said. "They haven't been playing well at the end of the season, and it just carried through to the playoffs."

Shaking his head, Wilson said,  "It all started when Kobe wasn't happy with the team and he wanted them to make some trades—which they didn't do," he added.

"They weren't hungry, they were overconfident," chirped  a kid who didn't look 21. But then, he wasn't drinking, just standing in the bar area where people had been watching the game.

As customers began filing out, Wilson offered another theory.

"Maybe the league sees a lockout coming, and they wanted to check out how the playoffs would do without the Lakers," he surmised.

Holding his cupped hand to an ear as if holding a telephone, Wilson barked, "Maybe they just called up and said to the Lakers, 'This isn't your year to be in the playoffs.'"

By the time Phil Jackson came on TV, the bar at EL  Torito had pretty much emptied out.

Still, the popular Sherman Oaks restaurant was crowded and noisy with families enjoying a Mother's Day meal. The friendly aroma of Mexican food filled the place. Glasses were clinking. Moms looked happy.

Back at the bar, nobody in the small remaining crowd was talking about the Lakers.  Kobe Bryant was talking on TV now, but nobody was paying attention.