Really now, was there any doubt? No fan — celebrity or average Joe — is more closely associated with any team than the three-time Academy Award winner is with the Lakers.

Nicholson has had courtside seats for more than three decades, both at the Forum and STAPLES. What we like about Jack is he's the consummate fan — he harangues refs, talks with opposing coaches, trash talks with players and rarely misses a game. He's shown his famous face in opposing arenas when the Lakers have made The Finals. And most important, Nicholson knows the game of basketball.

"He's been a good friend of mine ... for years," Pat Riley said, "and it's borne out of basketball more than anything else. He's simply a fanatic and has been ever since I started my career with the Lakers in 1970.

"He's a real fan. He's not one of these actors that all of a sudden get front row seats and then they're gone. He's for real. He cares."

Boy does he. While his near-perfect attendance and his courtside antics are legendary, Nicholson's fandom is also stuff of urban legend. Directors reportedly need to work their shooting schedules around Lakers home games. One report from the set of his Academy Award-winning film "The Departed" had him forbidding all Celtics gear from the set of the Boston-based movie. Whether that's true or not just adds to Nicholson's charm and more than tightens his iron grip on our top spot.

And what does Jack think about being named the top Lakers fan of all time? His publicist, of course, passed along this message to us:

"He is deeply honored and only hopes that he has been as consistently entertaining as the Lakers have been."