The people here in Los Angeles love to see parades, most especially yesterday when the LA Lakers paraded themselves on top of firetrucks and two-deck buses in celebration for winning the Championships in the 2009 NBA Finals. This event had been customary for the LA Lakers to have this kind of Victory Parade from the City Hall to the Staples Center and last one happened in 2002. After seven years, the Lakers got the NBA Championship back but instead of the usual route of the parade, they made it to start at the Staples Center and ending at the LA Coliseum which is about a 2-mile distance along Figueroa Street.
Thousands of fans lined up along the edges of Figueroa Street up to the LA Coliseum and I was there to observe and take pictures. Most of the people in the parade were wearing LA Lakers Jerseys and LA Lakers T-shirts and I was one of the few who was wearing a different attire for the day. I positioned myself about 100 yards away from the starting point of the parade which was the entrance of the Staples Center. After waiting and standing for at least 20 minutes, the parade finally started at 11:22 AM. It was a sunny day and there was a festive mood everywhere at Figueroa Street.
Thousands more of fans were waiting at the LA Coliseum as a Program was prepared for the fans to celebrate the victory of LA Lakers as the 2009 NBA Champions. Reports and estimates from the LA Police showed that the LA Lakers Victory Parade was attended by 250,000 fans coming as far as San Diego and other cities near Los Angeles. After almost few minutes of the firetrucks and two-deck buses where the players rode had passed my position, I decided to go back to my “walkabout” routine for the day.
I did at least 3 hours of walking along the different streets at Downtown Los Angeles and it was my workout for the day.
The following were the pictures taken during the parade.
Bald Runner 
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