Los Angeles Lakers

Lakers fans take over Clippers crowd on rough night for Kobe & Co.

Published Apr. 6, 2016 1:55 a.m. ET

Jovan Buha

LOS ANGELES — It's no secret that Los Angeles is a Lakers town.

Though the Clippers have risen in popularity over the past half-decade, take a stroll around Los Angeles and you'll see far more purple and gold than red and blue.

The obvious difference in the fan bases can be seen at Lakers-Clippers games.

When the Lakers are the home team, the crowd is primarily filled with Lakers fans, with a small portion of Clippers fans.

When the Clippers are the host, however, the crowd is much closer to 50/50, with the Clippers holding around a 60/40 advantage (Clippers coach Doc Rivers suggested it was a 75/25 split).

With Kobe Bryant making his final appearance at Staples Center as a visitor Tuesday night, the arena predictably was filled with plenty of Lakers fans hoping to get one final look at the 20-year superstar.

While the Lakers were crushed by the Clippers, 103-81, one would never know by the tone of the crowd.

The Lakers faithful — and even some Clippers fans — broke out in "Kobe," "MVP" and "We want Kobe" chants several times, reaching their peak at the end of the contest, when fans begged for Lakers coach Byron Scott to insert Bryant back into the blowout despite his 6 points on 2-for-12 shooting:

After the game, Bryant waved to the Clippers crowd one final time before saying his goodbyes to Rivers and Chris Paul, despite the fact that the Lakers will host the Clippers on Wednesday night in a rare home-and-home back-to-back:

Paul, who said he's used to this sort of reception for Bryant, believes the Lakers star deserves all the celebration he received from the crowd.

"This is my fifth year here now, and it is like that every time we play the Lakers," Paul said. "Kobe deserves that. What he has done for the city of Los Angeles, he has entertained the whole city, the whole country, the whole world for 20 years now.

"Everything that he gets, he deserves. It is crazy to think that he (may) only have five games (left). I am glad our fans here got a chance to see him.

"Kobe wants to win, and seeing him end like this is tough.”

Rivers, on the other hand, said he wasn't sad since he and Bryant have been competing as enemies for nearly a decade now.

"No sadness my way," Rivers said pre-game. "Let me be clear: I love Kobe, but I'd never cheer for him to win. I was always the opponent, and have been an opponent throughout his career. I'd never get that skewed. So I have no sadness toward that."

In light of their notable battles — particularly the 2008 and 2010 Finals — Rivers said he has nothing but respect for Bryant, adding that Kobe's among the most competitive players Rivers has played or coached against — along with Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett and Isiah Thomas.

"Just mad respect," Rivers said. "I have always had that for him and for each other. My job was to try and stop him or frustrate him when we play him, and his job was to try and inflict pain. It is the type of relationship we have.

"But the respect is amazing. I have always respected him. I have always respected the way he approached the game."

Tuesday's crowd apparently felt the same.

Jovan Buha covers the NBA for FOX Sports. Follow him on Twitter: @jovanbuha.