Pelicans first-year head coach Alvin Gentry joked during his pregame media session Friday that 80 percent of the fans he saw waiting to get into the Smoothie King Center were sporting Kobe Bryant jerseys. Although that’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, New Orleans (29-49) fully expects it to be an unusual atmosphere for a home game against the Lakers (16-62).
“I think you’ll see it be a very pro-Kobe crowd,” Gentry said, good-naturedly. “As I was driving into the arena, there were probably 5,000 people in line, and 4,000 of them had on Kobe jerseys. It will be very much like playing on the road.