We want tacos.

When the Los Angeles Lakers are closing in on a win, this chant ritualistically rings

out from the Staples Center crowd beneath the numerous championship banners and retired

jerseys of Laker legends like Kreme Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Wilk Chamberlain,

and Shaquille O'Neal.

Since the 2006-2007 season, the Lakers have partnered with a fast food chain to supply

each fan with two free tacos after home victories where they hold their opponent to fewer than

100 points.

The chain in question has offered tacos since its founding in San Diego in 1951, and although

its menu is dominated by burgers and fries, it is included in an array of less conventional

offerings like egg rolls, toasted ravioli's, teriyaki rice bowls, and currently it's

overtly stoner-focused, munchy meals.

But even within the fast food sector, with its rampant labor abuses and food safety shortcuts,

this West Coast eatery has survived egregious scandals, including selling horse and kangaroo

meat as beef in the 1980s, and a horrific 1993 E. Colay outbreak that killed four children

and nearly bankrupted the company.

The chain swiftly rebounded from its brush with the Reaper, due to an ahead of its time,

quirky, self-aware ad campaign featuring a suited CEO version of the company's titular

clown mascot.

23 years after the scandal that inspired the modern Upton Sinclair book Fast Food Nation,

the restaurant prospers, with franchises and 21 states in a workforce of 22,000.

Meanwhile, with 16 NBA championships in its history, including 10s since 1980, the most

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