Question Regarding "Courtside" Seating

I have a couple questions I hope someone here can answer for me.

I'm planning a trip to LA to catch the Lakers vs Clippers game and I'm planning on purchasing tickets close to the action in sections 102 and 119. I'm currently debating between sitting Courtside row A or Courtside row B in sections 102CT and 119CT, OR row 1 in 102/119. I've been doing a lot of research and I realized that Courtside A,B is different than "floor seats". I also noticed an area where people can walk in front of Courtside A. So my question and concern is, can anyone walk there or is that area only walkable by people with courtside tickets? Or else wouldn't that be quite a distraction for courtside row A, B ticket holders? If such is the case, would Courtside row B or even the much cheaper row 1 (which appears to be immediately behind row B) be better since the seats will be more elevated?

A few more questions.. Are there any benefits of being courtside row A,B compared to sitting row 1 section 119 for example? I'm referring to privileges such as asking for autographs. Lastly, between Courtside row A, row B and section 119 row 1, what are your opinions on which the better seat is everything considered?

Thanks and I appreciate any help I can get!

You better be tall if you want to sit Courtside ... I had a courtside row A against Toronto in 2008 just behind the Lakers bench ... I'm 6'2 and the view of the game wasn't good enough at all .

At the 1st timeout , I left my seat and looked for another in the 10ish rows ... fortunately I found one

I attented 6 games in the 7th to 12th in the 100s sections ... the view is perfect to me ... the key is to be in the sections near halfcourt

So I guess the courtside seats aren't all that great then? I've sat in row 7-8 at center court in other arenas and they always gave the best views of the entire court, but I've always wanted to sit courtside at a lakers game. If I were to sit courtside, are the beneifts really just being a row or two infront of row 1 of the section behind? Because of the price I would expect more than just being literally one row in front of the section behind and with people still walking in front of me..

kckc wrote:So I guess the courtside seats aren't all that great then? I've sat in row 7-8 at center court in other arenas and they always gave the best views of the entire court, but I've always wanted to sit courtside at a lakers game. If I were to sit courtside, are the beneifts really just being a row or two infront of row 1 of the section behind? Because of the price I would expect more than just being literally one row in front of the section behind and with people still walking in front of me..

I just experienced it one and I was dissapointed ... maybe it's great if you have courtside seats near halfcourt and sit behind normal sized people who have floor seats ...

It's just not my taste to sit rows 1 to 4-5 ...

Vito Andolini wrote:If you can afford to sit on the court, you gotta do it at least once in your life.

yeah but you're not sitting on the court in the rows he's talking about

Well it's good to know that only people sitting courtside A,B and floor seats can walk there. But the fact that the view is often blocked kind of sucks, especially for the price. I always arrive to games early so I would love the opportunity to try and get some players autographs and that alone may be worth the price.

lakerswiz, would you have preferred to sit courtside A or B or a few rows behind? I do want to be close to the action and be able to hear the huddles, but not if my view is blocked for most of the game.

lakerswiz wrote:Well when I went it was just a Clippers / Thunder game we went to because tickets were so cheap. ($80 for first row?!?! HAD TO GO)

A Clippers / Thunder game would be so expensive now.

Thanks for all the responses! I've got some tough decisions to make since I really want to get as close as I can and hopefully some autographs, but the thought of saving a couple hundred bucks for a better view is enticing.

lakerswiz wrote:Well when I went it was just a Clippers / Thunder game we went to because tickets were so cheap. ($80 for first row?!?! HAD TO GO)

When I was in LA last season I payed like $500 each for seats on the 7th row, you payed $80 for 1st row seats?!

EDIT: It was a Laker game though

Close to courtside is overrated. If you get the chance, by all means, do it. It's something VERY few people ever get a chance to do. It's worth it at least once, if money is no object. But like has already been said, make sure you're tall. Views are easily obstructed by people in front of you.

But if you're looking for amazing seats, the PR seats are the place to be. Or even better, the handicapped seats behind the PR level. In my opinion, those are the best seats in the house.

That said, I'll be in my season seats in the 300's looking down on you. Whatever you decide, have fun!

I've sat 2nd row @ Staples and I much prefer sitting up around the 12the row, the angle is much better, sitting too close it's actually hard to track everything on the court when you are on basically the same plane of view as the players.

“Courtside” means different things to different people. Plus, the true meaning of “Courtside” is a bit different depending on if it’s a Lakers or Clippers home game.

A lot of people consider “Courtside” (or floor seats) to be the first FEW rows down below. IMO, Courtside should mean “on the wood”, which means the only people in front of you are the players, refs and coaches (also ballboys and cheerleaders). For Lakers home games, Courtside just means “Courtside”. There is only 1 row. For Clippers games though, there is Courtside Row 1 and a Courtside Row 2 (which they sneak onto the wood, just behind Courtside Row 1. Behind Courtside comes the walkway, then rows A, B...1,2,3 etc…

If you can get a true Courtside seat and money is no object, then I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to be down that close. Now if you mean “courtside” as in rows A, B…1,2,3, 4, 5, 6 etc…then I agree it might sound better than it really is. But if you’re in 119 or 112, you’re still between free throw lines, so those would still be great seats. Also, when you are down low in the 100s sections, IMO, aisle seats really help as it creates space between you and the person in front of you, so you don’t always have to look over someone’s head. Personally, I like being closest to the action to see and hear the nuances and of the game. Let’s be honest, your TV set at home gives the “best view”, so when I get a chance to sit low tend to do so just so I can look and listen for things like trash talking, complaining to the refs, players expressions (like Kobe giving the ref dirty looks for no-calls, etc).