As the game clock finally hit triple zeroes in Orlando on Sunday night, the celebration was on for the Los Angeles Lakers as they won their 17th championship as a franchise and first in a decade. It was yet another crowning achievement in the career of LeBron James, the first title of what L.A. hopes is many for Anthony Davis, and the culmination of the strangest season in league history.
The Lakers danced and sang and threw back champagne and beer, as champions are wont to do, and, because it’s 2020, much of the celebration was documented live by players on their social media. J.R. Smith has become a serial Instagram Live user — it almost got him in trouble when he first arrived in the Bubble — and he took fans through the celebration, from the court to the locker room to the bus to the afterparty at the hotel bar.
Somewhere in that window between them leaving the champagne soaked locker room for the bus ride back to the hotel, Quinn Cook found himself separated from his teammates and while Smith partied on the bus, Cook hopped in the comments on his livestream to see if he could get the bus to turn around. This was met with hilarity from Smith and Dion Waiters, who told Cook he’s gonna need to fly back on his own.
The Lakers team bus forgot Quinn Cook at the arena so he went on JR’s IG live and told them to come back
(via @TheRealJRSmith) pic.twitter.com/sthp7sjINB
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 12, 2020
Cook’s comments were quite funny, ranging from disbelief that he might have to walk back after winning a ring to pleading for them to make a U-turn. Surely he found his way back and was able to join the celebration again, but it was just another odd twist in winning a title in the Bubble in having to also make it back to the bus on time.