Former Los Angeles King Willie Mitchell said he “got shit” for being the big outlier on the team in regards to where he wanted to live.



While all of Mitchell’s teammates decided stay in L.A.’s South Bay – mostly the Manhattan, Hermosa and Redondo Beach areas – Mitchell opted for Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, a fine spot in its own right but a place that was foreign to a lot of Kings players.



“The (general manager) at the time, Dean Lombardi, was like, ‘What the hell are you doing living down there?’ ” Mitchell recalled. “I don’t know. I like traveling the road that’s least traveled per se.”



Mitchell recalled he tried to get other players to join him in his location, which was not far from the team’s practice facility in El Segundo as well as LAX and Staples Center downtown. But as hard as he tried, nobody followed. He was the only player on the 2012 and 2014...