The Lakers are like Jay-Z: Juan Toscano-Anderson on LA, Warriors

New Lakers recruit Juan Toscano-Anderson reveals the main difference between the Warriors and his new team.

After spending the first three years of his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors, Juan Toscano-Anderson opted to take his talents to Hollywood with an offseason move to the Los Angeles Lakers. Now that he's been with his new team for a few months, the 29-year-old has had a chance to compare the culture of the two organizations as well as their fan bases.

When asked to share his thoughts on the matter, JTA had to turn to hip-hop icon Jay-Z to try and describe the major difference between the Lakers and the Warriors (h/t ClutchPoints on Twitter):

“The Lakers are like Jay Z,” he said. “Longevity, everybody knows that Jay Z is the great, and that's kind of like what the Lakers are. They've been good for so long. They are the team in the NBA.

“… The Warriors, they just got good 10 years ago, and I can say that because I've been a Warrior fan my whole life. … I think the standard and the idea of success here in LA has been different over a long course of time than it has for the Warriors. … It's either championship or bust here. That's why it's the city of champions. So, I think that's just the difference — the longevity in regards to success.”

"The Lakers are like Jay Z. Longevity, everybody knows that Jay Z is the great, and that's kind of like what the Lakers are. They've been good for so long."

Juan Toscano-Anderson on the difference between being a Laker and a Warrior

(via @SiriusXMNBA)pic.twitter.com/uzn04KicFS

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) October 15, 2022

While some Warriors fans might misconstrue Toscano-Anderson's statement here as a bit of shade-throwing, he's actually right. Historically, the Lakers have had much more success than the Warriors, and there's no denying that the entire basketball world generally expects more from the Lakers. This isn't a sleight on the Warriors, who as JTA said, just recently found success in the NBA during the Stephen Curry era.

Juan Toscano-Anderson also noted that he's been a lifelong Warriors fan, and while his loyalty may now lie with the purple & gold, there's no denying that the Dubs still have a special place in his heart.