Jack Is Back: Oscar-Winner Nicholson Strains His Seat At Lakers Games

Jack Nicholson made some recent rare appearances at the Los Angeles Lakers basketball at the downtown L.A. Staples Center — after the aging star shocked Hollywood by recently saying that he was ready to give up his season tickets! At the time, the disturbing statement by the dedicated Lakers fan was considered to be another sign that, as revealed by The National ENQUIRER, Jack was settling into a dreary routine!

The 78-year-old actor hasn't made a movie in six years, and his longtime pal Harry Dean Stanton recently told The ENQUIRER that Jack had become “pretty reclusive” after a life of  drug-fueled boozy parties and posing for paparazzi on the arms of beautiful starlets. Harry, 89, said that Jack preferred a dreary routine of afternoon naps, drinking milk and sedate new hobbies like painting.

“Both of us are pretty much retired,” Harry said — and the three-time Oscar winner didn't seem concerned about staying in shape while knocking back a tub of popcorn from courtside at the Lakers game. Jack had earned nine other Oscar nominations and an estimated $400 million fortune over his long career. Showbiz insiders, however, told The ENQUIRER that he had recently scuttled his career over no longer being able to remember his lines.

Jack — seen here talking to ESPN reporter Stephen A. Smith — didn't do his memory much good with decades of indulging a serious drug habit that included plenty of marijuana and cocaine. Author Marc Eliot claimed in “Nicholson: A Biography” that Jack experienced “castration fantasies” and “homoerotic fear fantasies” while tripping on LSD.

The original Hollywood bad boy still has family to keep him company in L.A.. Jack attended the Lakers game with his son Raymond — who was born in 1992 during the star's long relationship with actress Rebecca Broussard. And, as The ENQUIRER previously reported, Jack is trying to pass on his own hard-learned romantic lessons to Leonardo DiCaprio!

Jack reached out to the younger actor with some heartbreaking advice: “Don’t end up like me, kid!” A reflective Jack, pals told The ENQUIRER, doesn’t want his “Departed” co-star to make the same mistakes he did living up to his rep as a Tinseltown playboy. "He’s hoping Leo finds someone to love," said an insider, "instead of constantly trading one young beauty for another!"