The Fabulous Forum

Los Angeles Times file photo Nov. 21, 1968: Chick Hearn in a Forum luxury box.

Art Rogers / Los Angeles Times Dec. 31, 1967: Usherette Patricia Sanderling wears a "mini toga" at the new Forum. The Times ran a long story by Bob Oates questioning whether Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke was planning to sell the Forum, the Lakers and the Kings. I remember the Forum as an exotic place, far from home after a long jaunt down the 405, where the Lakers of Wilt, Jerry and Elgin played. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen--a little bit of Vegas glitz to my 12-year-old eyes. So Oates' description of the Forum caught my interest and stirred some memories: "The lobbies are a bit small, the concession stands few, the hallways narrow, it is said to be a costly building to operate and the ice machine hasn't always worked. The negatives, however, are overmatched by the Forum's plus factors--the touches of Cooke: the colorful carpeting, the theater environment, the short-skirted usherettes, the neat directional signs." Cooke, of course, eventually did sell it all and the Lakers and Kings moved to Staples Center. --Keith Thursby