Lakers fans buying into youth movement, set summer-league viewership records

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Los Angeles Lakers fans may unexpectedly be buying into a rebuilding process.

Armed with several promising young players, the Lakers have been one of the big-ticket teams at Las Vegas Summer League over the last week. That intrigue is translating to television ratings, with Lakers fans watching in record numbers to check the prospects out.

The Lakers' summer-league opener on Friday was Time Warner Cable SportsNet's highest-rated summer game ever, with a 1.45 household rating. Their following games had 1.23 and 1.29 ratings, each indicating more than 1 percent of sample households were watching the game.

Those numbers are way up from a year ago, when the Lakers' summer team averaged a 0.27 rating, and the summer numbers so far almost match the team's 1.55 average rating during the 2014-15 regular season.

Coming off the worst regular season in franchise history, the Lakers had a quieter offseason than some may have expected. They added Roy Hibbert, Brandon Bass, and Lou Williams for what could be Kobe Bryant's final season, but it's also clear they're on the precipice of a youth movement - at least until they can attract the next superstar to push the new, young core forward.

With No. 2 overall pick D'Angelo Russell, 2014 standout Jordan Clarkson, the returning Julius Randle, and lottery tickets Larry Nance Jr., Anthony Brown, and Robert Upshaw, the Lakers won't be short on hope for the future. Even if they do come up short on actual victories.