The Curse of the Panini: One of the Many Reasons the Lakers Have Faltered This Season

Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash - Frequent visitors to the X-Ray lab

After entering the Staples Center on Tuesday January 15^th to watch the purple and gold take on the Lebron-less Miami Heat, I was handed a sheet of Lakers player stickers by a Staples Center employee. This is one of the many giveaways that the Lakers have imparted on their fans during home games this season.

The giveaways themselves have been a precursor of doom for the 2014-1015 campaign. Searching the data banks of my clouded memory, I could not recall a season in recent years where the Lakers had given away so many promotional items. In fact, they’ve created a page on their website to advertise these rare goodies to their win-starved fan base. Obviously this has been a nice surprise, but it's not a common practice for the organization, at least not on this scale.

When the Lakers were winning and had a reserved spot in the upper levels of the playoffs, these giveaways were typically reserved for playoff games. Upon entering the arena, you’d have your ticket scanned, and then you followed the throng of crowds to your seat to gawk at everything in Lakersland.

Now that the Lakers are headed for possibly their worst record in franchise history, often you can expect to be greeted with a free something or other before you begin the ascent to your seat (in my case the seats are up near the Hubble Telescope).

But I digress….back to the sticker sheet. The sheet was made by PaniniAmerica, a maker of sports cards and related products. I was grateful for the item, as I am with all of the giveaways, but I didn’t pay much attention to it until recently. There are six Lakers players featured on the sheet: Kobe Bryant, Carlos Boozer, Jeremy Lin, Steve Nash, Nick Young and Julius Randle.

PaniniAmerica Sticker sheet issued to fans on January 15th, 2015

It’s a safe bet to say that Panini created this product before the season began. The players they chose were a combination of the current stat-sheet fillers, an aging veteran, a couple of new guys, and the potentially promising rookie. They are all draped in their traditional home gold jerseys. It’s a nice set.

Depending on how you look at it, or which way your superstitious nature lies, the PaniniAmerica company feature three players that, more than likely, will not suit up for another game this season: Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and Julius Randle.

Have you heard of the Sports Illustrated Cover Curse?

February 2012 edition of Sport Illustrated

 Or the Madden NFL curse? 

Popular Madden NFL Video Game

 

Could we have a new jinx in the making called the "Panini Sticker Curse?" Look at the TMZish facts:

*Nash tweaks his ever-failing back in preseason game 1, and he’s out for the season.

*Randle leaps awkwardly in his very first professional game, breaks a leg bone, and is out for the season.

*After a brilliant move on a scrub, Kobe goes up for a dunk, and comes down with a torn rotator cuff, and is potentially, and most likely, out for the season.

Coincidence? Who knows? Like my father used to paraphrase: "only the shadows knows!"

At the hopes of marketing the term Panini Sticker Curse, I'm using this post to promote it so I can cash-in big on the name. You know like Pat Riley did with the whole Three-peat thing? Donations can be made to the “Destroy All Panini Lakers Stickers Fund.” Just inbox me so I can show you how to deposit the funds into my account. :-)

All kidding aside, whether the curse is just a coincidence or just a figment of my warped sense of humor, it is somewhat creepy. I was going to hang the sticker sheet up at work next to some Lakers placards, but I’ve decided to leave well enough alone. 

And although I am entirely grateful to the Lakers organization for placating me with free stuff whilst they rebuild the team, I’d rather have playoff runs and banners as opposed to the free handouts.

On a quick side note, congratulations to Pau Gasol for being nominated to the 2014-2015 Eastern Conference All Star Squad! I sure wish it could have been with the Western Conference squad instead. 

Till the muse tackles me again in the hallway….later gators!