The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics rivalry has dimmed a little because both teams haven’t been title contenders for most of this decade, but it certainly hit new heights when the two teams met in the NBA Finals twice in the previous decade. (2008 & 2010)
For me, the rivalry is something I hold dear to me. Not because I support either team but because 2008 was the first NBA Finals I watched from start to finish. That rivalry was so intense, there was no better example. I was hooked immediately.
Kobe Bryant was obviously a significant part of those two Finals and will face the C’s for the final time tonight. But his fixation with the Celtics didn’t start in 08. He studied the old Celtics when he was a young buck.
“I grew up on Lakers and Celtics. When I was growing up in Italy there were no NBA games on, nothing was global, so all you could watch was Celtics and the Lakers, and that whole rivalry,” he said last week, turning his thoughts to today’s game — his final go against the Celtics.
“Now having a chance to be a part of (the rivalry) and playing them one more time, and seeing that green? It’s extremely important,” Bryant said, “It’s special — so, so special.”
“Watching the Celtics taught me so much about the game. I mean, I studied Bird religiously, I studied D.J. religiously. Russell, Cousy, Jo Jo, I mean I watched those guys (on tape). I watched the difference in basketball between the Lakers and the Celtics. Red Auerbach’s system, and how he would raise the young guys and the culture he created, and the culture that we created. Why did the Celtics win? How were they able to win?”
The loss in 08 taught him a lot too. Something that game tape could never teach.
“It forced me to be a better leader,” he said. “In 2008 what I learned was that my leadership, I felt, was what failed us as a team. I had built our team to be a very strong, cohesive unit, but I hadn’t built our team to beat the toughness of the Celtics. It forced me to find a balance between building a cohesive and positive environment, and yet building a very tough, tested team. It pushed me to be a better leader.”
“There’s certain franchises that are touched, whether by the sports gods or whatever you want to call it,” he said. “The Celtics and the Lakers seem to be those franchises.“
I find the rivalry so fascinating and it’s always fun watching these two teams, whether it’s in the Finals or game 70-something in the Regular Season.
Another day, another era that’ll end.
