Politics a Hot Topic in the Lakers' Locker Room

As you're no doubt aware by now, today is Election Day, and the members of the Lakers couldn't be happier. Politics can often be a touchy subject to discuss with your co-workers, but in the Lakers' locker room, it's a topic that the players discuss on a fairly regular basis.

The tone of the conversations has ranged from serious to heated to just joking around, but the important thing is that there have been discussions: lots of them. So besides Derek Fisher, who has made campaign appearances for Barack Obama, where do the rest of the players' allegiances lie? Fisher isn't telling, but everyone seems to have an opinion one way or the other.

"Well, I don't want to (out) anyone," Fisher said. "One side of the group feels strongly about one party and one candidate and the other part of the group feels strongly about the other party and the other candidate. At this point in the process, I don't think there are any undecideds in our locker room. I know there are still enough of them out there, but not in our locker room."

Phil Jackson is on the record as having donated to the Obama campaign, and Kobe Bryant also is an Obama supporter. But Fisher is clearly recognized as the team's elder statesman when it comes to politics, as evidenced by this quote he gave yesterday when asked what his hope was for the result of this election.

“My hope is that whether it’s Sen. Obama or Sen. McCain, we realize our place in society in terms of not turning our back on the people who need the help the most. We all have a role to play in that regard. It doesn’t really matter about the politics of it. It’s just finding a way to give back where you can, and if each person just helped another person, I think we’d be OK.”

That's a very diplomatic answer, and it's a sentiment that's tough to disagree with no matter which candidate you support. Whether you agree with Derek Fisher, Kobe Bryant and Phil Jackson or not, make sure you get out and vote today and get your feelings on the record.

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