Six-year-old Jackson Tuyay isn’t on the Lakers roster, he doesn’t log minutes, his stats won’t show up in the box score — and yet, if you were inside Crypto.com Arena over the last two weeks, you’d swear he’s been the most important player in the building.
It all started March 14, in a 127–125 overtime thriller against the Denver Nuggets. The Los Angeles Lakers were dragging, searching, stuck in that familiar late-game fog. Then the videoboard cut to a kid — arms flailing, eyes wide, heart fully on display like a drum pounding against glass.
It all started March 14, in a 127–125 overtime thriller against the Denver Nuggets. Credit: Los Angeles Lakers
Tuyay wasn’t cheering. He was summoning something.
The arena shifted. The energy followed.
The Lakers stormed back, forced overtime, and won it on a cold-blooded fadeaway from Luka Doncic. Afterward, LeBron James said what everyone was thinking inside the arena.
Six-year-old Jackson Tuyay isn’t on the Lakers roster, he doesn’t log minutes, his stats won’t show up in the box score — and yet, if you were inside Crypto.com Arena over the last two weeks, you’d swear he’s been the most important player in the building. Credit: Los Angeles Lakers
“He’s the reason why we won tonight.”
Say what you want about superstition, about logic, about grown men needing a six-year-old to spark them. Sports has never been about logic. It’s about belief — irrational, electric belief — and right now, that belief wears a kid-sized jersey Lakers jersey.
He’s back! 6-year-old Jackson Tuyay who won the Lakers fan of the game when they beat the Nuggets in overtime is back and trying to rally the #LakeShow to victory. pic.twitter.com/DcePoBCKeX
— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) March 28, 2026
They’re calling him the Rally Kid now.
And when Tuyay returned Friday against the Brooklyn Nets, the script repeated itself. A handmade card for Doncic. Another fourth-quarter appearance. Another surge. Another win for the Lake Show.
The Lakers don’t need to explain it.
They just need him in the building.
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