Jack Nicholson was a fan favorite during the last half of the 20th century. Along with film fame, he was a lifelong Los Angeles Lakers fan, often seen at home games.
Jack Nicholson started his film career with The Cry Baby Killer in 1958. Over the next five decades, he appeared in many movies, such as The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Raven (1963), Hells Angels on Wheels (1967), The Rebel Rousers (1970), Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Last Tycoon (1976), Broadcast News (1987), Batman (1989), Hoffa (1992), As Good as It Gets (1997), and Something’s Gotta Give (2003). Many of his films were nominated for Academy Awards. including Easy Rider (1969), The Last Detail (1973), Chinatown (1974), Reds (1981), Prizzi’s Honor (1985), A Few Good Men (1992), and About Schmidt (2002).
Nicholson also expressed himself in a wide variety of emotions, which helped him maintain a steady and enduring career in Hollywood. Examples include a frustrated, agitated diner customer in Five Easy Pieces (1970), a veteran-turned-insane criminal in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), and a wild spirit in Terms of Endearment (1983).
In 1970, Nicholson became a Lakers season-ticket holder and a mainstay at Lakers games, donning his signature sunglasses and taunting visiting players and coaches.
Nicholson has witnessed the Lakers win 11 NBA championships and received honorary championship rings as a special member of the team’s extended family. Then, in 2024, Nicholson was inducted into the James F. Goldstein SuperFan Gallery of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, joining other superfans, including Billy Crystal and Spike Lee.
Nicholson became close friends with many of the players, from the early days of Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West to the Showtime Era of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Jamaal Wilkes, Kurt Rambis, Byron Scott, and head coach Pat Riley. He developed friendships with team owner Jerry Buss, as well as players Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and LeBron James. Said Jamaal Wilkes, “He was not a normal person; he was Jack Nicholson. We were all aware of that. We didn’t treat him like any other fan. We treated him with due respect, and we appreciated the fact that he was so into us.”
Byron Scott made sure that Nicholson was a member of the Lakers’ inner circle, especially when the team entered an establishment, like a bar, or even attended an opulent party that lasted all night long. “That was our team. We were very tight. Very close-knit. Pat Riley wouldn’t let us have a lot of people in our inner circle, but Jack was in our inner circle.”
Superfan Jack (photo courtesy LA Times)
As a flamboyant and jovial fan of the Los Angeles Lakers, Nicholson also shared his grief and sadness when Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash in 2020. He told KCBS-TV where he was when Bryant took a jump shot. “I sat right behind [Bryant’s] jump shot on the left-hand side. I could see him going up, and I could tell the first instant if it was in.”
Nicholson also recalls the first time he met Bryant. “I teased him the first time we met. It was in [Madison Square Garden] in New York, and I offered him a basketball and asked him, did he want me to autograph it for him? (laughing) He looked at me like I was crazy.”
As a kid growing up in New Jersey, Nicholson played basketball, which was an escape from being sent to detention during his high school years. The game was ingrained in him, even when his life took him to the West Coast.
In recent years, Nicholson has withdrawn from public appearances, which meant attending fewer Lakers games. In 2023, he returned to a Lakers game for the first time in two years, and he watched the Lakers eliminate the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs.
Chris Erskine of the Los Angeles Times once called Nicholson, “the best sixth man the NBA has ever seen, the oddest weapon in a very odd league.”
