STANDING ROOM ONLY LAKERS FANS CLOG DOWNTOWN AS 550,000 HAIL VICTORS.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

The estimated turnout at Monday's Lakers parade ranks as the largest for any sports-related parade in Los Angeles city history, and among the largest of all parades for any type of event here.

Police estimate that 550,000 people showed up downtown to cheer on their purple-and-gold heroes, for a sun-drenched affair that was relatively peaceful, featuring only four arrests and some minor vandalism.

This year's Lakers parade turnout, in fact, was almost greater than the turnout for the mayoral election earlier this month, when 566,402 voters cast ballots.

Last year's parade had less than half the turnout, at 250,000, and featured a more violent crowd - including one shooting death and a mob that attacked a bus and broke store windows.

In 1988 - like this year, the second of back-to-back Lakers championships - about 40,000 attended the victory parade. That same year when the Dodgers won the World Series, about 80,000 fans crowded the downtown parade route.

City observers say besides the obvious reasons - huge excitement over the Shaquille O'Neal-Kobe Bryant tandem and the region's growing population - another reason for the greater turnout was the route.

The 2000 and 2001 parades went from the Department of Water and Power building on North Hope Street down Figueroa Street to the parking lots outside Staples Center. By comparison, the 1988 parades ended outside City Hall, where there is less open space and views are blocked by trees.

``They would stand on First Street and all those trees blocked the view of the south side of City Hall,'' recalled Greg Nelson, an aide to Councilman Joel Wachs. ``The venue had a lot to do with it. People knew there was room at Water and Power, and room along the parade route.''

Only a few other outdoor events in Los Angeles history have had a higher turnout. The Hollywood Christmas Parade typically draws between 750,000 and 1 million people. In May 1991, between 500,000 to 1 million people jammed into Hollywood for a parade honoring troops returning from the Persian Gulf War.

And while it's not in Los Angeles proper, the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena hosts an estimated 1 million people annually.

City observers note the Lakers are one of the few things that unify this disparate and far-flung town.

``It's the one thing that draws them all together,'' said Elaine Bartels, who coordinated the 1987 and 1988 parades for the city and now works in the Mayor's Office as head of the Targeted Neighborhood Initiative program. ``That's what you feel when you're in the crowd.

``It's every corner of L.A. - people driving from far away. In all the neighborhoods you hear about the Laker parade. I think our sports teams are something all Angelenos cling to as something special that's ours.''