The Los Angeles Lakers have gotten off to a hot start in the 2023 NBA playoffs, and actress Issa Rae could not be happier.
The creator of HBO’s Insecure grew up in L.A. and is a diehard Lakers and NBA fan. She’s previously collaborated with the league when everything restarted post pandemic, and she’s again involved with the playoffs as Rae partnered with AT&T for a fan pop-up in Los Angeles over the weekend.
“I love finals in any sport, honestly, but the NBA in particular, it’s just the way that it rallies our city and the community,” Rae told For the Win in a phone interview Friday. “It just pumps me up to see the best of the best being the best.”
Like a good Lakers fan, Rae picked her squad to beat the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs.
“I know the Grizzlies are are killing it right now,” Rae explained. “I don’t want to underestimate my Lakers, and I love that the Grizzlies are having a moment, so I’m just gonna be diplomatic and say that the Lakers are gonna take this.”
But she might be on to something after Los Angeles handed the two-seeded Grizzlies an emphatic loss in Game 1 thanks to some heroics from Austin Reaves.
Rae isn’t just high on the Lakers for this first series, either. When asked who would be her pick to win the NBA Finals, she said she did like a lot of the storylines around the Grizzlies, but overall she’s going with LeBron James and L.A.
“I would like to be on record as saying the Lakers,” she stated with a laugh.
With a wide open Western Conference, it’s very possible that the Lakers could pull it off. Memphis and Los Angeles square off in Game 2 on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
