Dyan Cannon continues to cook up love for basketball after all these years, and it's all because of a spilled cup of coffee.
More on that later.
Although she's most associated with the cheering on the Magic Johnson showtime Lakers of the 1980s, Cannon is still a regular at Staples Center applauding Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and the current crop of players.
Cannon revealed she's been supplying Lakers stars with more sweets than a Sprinkles Cupcake bakery. The Hollywood legend from such iconic films as "Revenge of the Pink Panther," and "Heaven Can Wait," has been providing delicious brownies for the guys in purple and gold for over a decade.
In essence, it all started unwittingly. Cannon tells SI's Jeff Pearlman she baked some brownies with her assistant to share with fans sitting court side at the Forum years ago. Cannon had some leftovers and one of the ball boys took them into the Lakers' locker room and they were a success; the players loved them. "I was asked to bring more for the next game," she said.
Those next-game brownies started a tradition that's spanned 12 years.
She bakes the treats the night before every game and even puts them in colorful plastic wrap. SI reports Cannon shows up to Lakers games at Staples Center with a "bag loaded with trays" of brownies. Not only does she hand out the sweet surprise to players, but also other employees, including the valet who parks her SUV.
Incidentally Cannon, 75, grew up in Tacoma, Wash., a fan of the formally nearby SuperSonics. It turns out Jerry West is to blame for her love affair with the Purple and Gold.
She attended her first Laker game in the early 1970s, on the invitation from Mike Frankovich, boss of Columbia Studios. "I told him I'd love to go, and the next thing I know I'm sitting at the floor of the Forum. The game wasn't televised, because the NBA wasn't as big as it is now. And I was drinking coffee and Jerry West came charging into my lap. It spilled all over me and all over him, and they announced it on the radio."
By and large, it's the most profitable spilled cup of coffee in NBA history. Otherwise, Cannon might not have become a Lakers season ticket-holder for the past 40 years.
-- Follow Ben Maller on Twitter @BenMaller.
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