Lakers, Celtics in NBA's Timeless Rivalry

Frank Doyle previews the 2010 NBA Finals, which feature the NBA’s classic Finals matchup of Boston and the LA Lakers.

It’s June, it’s the NBA Finals, it must be Celtics/Lakers. The Lakers are warm favorites in the NBA odds to reverse their 2008 loss against Boston, and the most likely series options are a Lakers win of 4-3 or 4-2. A Lakers’ sweep returns $110 on every ten bet, while ten will get you $250 if Boston reaches for the broom.

This is the twelfth time that Boston has faced the Lakers in the NBA Finals. It’s the most consistent Finals rivalry in US sports, and the most surprising statistic from those dry historical records is that when it comes to finals, Boston has owned the Lakers.

Boston leads the historical series between the two 9-2, which is some serious dominance. However, seven of those wins were rung up by Red Auerbach’s Boston super team of the 1960s, and nearly all those guys are in the Hall of Fame or have their jerseys hanging from the rafters. That Boston team was pretty good.

The rivalry in its modern sense really came alive in the 1980s, when the teams seemed to divide exactly along cultural fault-lines between East and West. But bigger than all that was the rivalry between two of the greatest players of all times in the Lakers’ Magic Johnson and the Celtics’ Larry Bird. They had competed at NCAA level when Magic was at Michigan State and Bird was at Indiana State, but each man drove the other to even great heights in the pros.

That ‘eighties legacy still lives in the teams, which are the only NBA teams who are bigger than their star players. The 2008 finals between Boston and the Lakers was one of the most popular of recent years, because of the rich history associated with the Lakers and the Celtics. But while the Lakers have a worthy successor to Magic in Kobe Bryant, Boston have no real successor to Bird.

The nearest Boston have to Bird in the current iteration is Kevin Garnett, but Garnett is past his prime, and finally claimed his ring in 2008 just as he had reached the tipping point of his talents. Both men share a certain competitive edge, but Garnett will not influence the 2010 NBA Finals the way Bird influenced the ones he was involved in as a player.

If Boston is to beat the Lakers this year, it’s looking at a team effort on defense and some nightly inspiration from Rajon Rondo. Because the Lakers have Kobe Bryant, and Kobe has not only answered all doubters about who’s the best currently in the NBA, but he’s how got MJ himself in his sights. Still a long way in the distance, certainly, but if the Lakers fulfil their favoritism it will bring Kobe to the place where he’s not playing against other guys any more. He’ll be playing against history.