NBA Finals: Lakers-Celtics rivalry!

Lakers vs Celtics

The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers involves the two most fancied and competitive basketball franchises in the NBA history. Starting as early as the 70′s, the rivalry had been intense up until the the era of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and with the rise of Michael Jordan, but was renewed again in 2008 as the Celtics met the Lakers at Staples centre in the NBA finals for the first time since 1987. Now ,as the two teams stand facing off each other for yet another NBA finals showdown, we cant help but look at the mind-boggling figures surrounding these two franchises.The Celtics currently lead the NBA with 17 championships and the Lakers come in second with a total of 15. Together these two teams’ 32 championships account for more than half of the 63 championships in NBA history.

The Magic-Bird rivalry contributed a great deal to the success of NBA and basketball among the masses during the decade. The sport took on so many new dimensions because of this famed rivalry,such as, East vs West, working class grit vs Hollywood glitz, white vs black , old tradition vs air-conditioned luxury etc etc.Coupled with the emergence of MJ in the following years , the NBA became a media powerhouse for one of the most dominant sporting leagues of all time and all over the world.

Rivalry renewed!

The rivalry died down a little with the impending retirements of both Magic and Larry and the Jordan saga.The Lakers especially had a lean patch of 15 years which didnt see much action. The Celtics also endured a lull, having suffered through some lean years during which the Sacramento Kings became the new rival favorites for the Lakers. The Celtics, like the Lakers, have once again improved to become one of the top teams in the NBA. The two teams met again in the 2008 NBA Finals, reviving the rivalry once again.

One of the traditions that rose out of this sporting rivalry was the usage of the famous BEAT LA chant ,sung whenever an LA based team played away from home court, and was developed in Boston Garden in the 1960′s and renewed again in 1980′s during the Bird-Magic era.It has kept up with every Los Angeles sports franchise ever since.And we will certainly hear it in 2010 in Boston Gardens.Why not? After all, we need to give the Laker fans a reason to shout “Go Home Boston”!!