Five great NBA playoff rivalries of all time

1. Boston Celtics v/s Los Angeles Lakers

The colourful and flamboyant city of LA takes exception to one particular colour, green. This is because the colour represents the Boston Celtics, the Lakers most- hated and oldest rivals.

This inter-divisional rivalry which spans more than 6 decades, saw the two teams pitted against each other in 12 NBA finals, with the Celtics winning 9 of the encounters. The two teams between them have won 33 NBA Championships, and with two of the most successful franchises in NBA history competing against each other, the rivalry was destined to earn its position in the history books as the greatest of all time.

The rivalry had the best of everything; tactical brilliance, media attention, an extremely passionate and vocal fan-base unrelenting in their demands and expectations, lots of rants and trash talking, both respect and despise being shared at the same time. In all it made the perfect sports story.

WILT CHAMBERLAIN and BILL RUSSELL : two of the greatest big men ever to play the game.

The 1960’s saw the Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain led Lakers matching up against the Celtics led By John Havlichek and Bill Russell. Russell and Chamberlain had featured in several duels in Chamberlain’s time with the 76ers and the warriors, but with the Celtics and Lakers the rivalry reached epic proportions. The two legends always shared a mutual respect for each other, but with the Celtics beating the Lakers in six NBA finals in the 60’s, it didn’t take long for the respect to transform into despise. This continued failure brought on a sense of deep hatred and the anguish in the minds of the Lakers faithful, and this animosity spurred the rivalry to greater heights.

Magic Johnson shooting the famous baby hook to lead the Lakers to their first NBA finals win over the Celtics.

The rivalry reached its peak during the 80’s. The decade will always be remembered for the duel between Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, two of the greatest basketball players of all time, who with their vision and unselfish ability to pass revolutionized the sport. The two teams led by Magic and Larry Bird, faced up against each other in the 1984 NBA finals. The series witnessed the first iteration of the Bird-Magic rivalry, and the two teams were involved in a gruelling 7 match series. The Celtics edged out the Lakers in that series, but the loss didn’t go down well with the Lakers big three of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson and James Worthy, who vowed to avenge their loss and were desperately looking for an opportunity to give their fans a long-awaited Finals win over their arch-nemesis.

The next year saw a rejuvenated Lakers going the extra step and avenging the loss of last year with a 4-2 win over the Celtics. The most memorable moment of the series was when Magic Johnson stepped up to score the iconic baby hook over the outstretch hands of Kevin McHale, giving the Lakers a last ditch win. For the first time the duel had ended in a purple and gold coronation. The Lakers repeated the feat in the 1987 finals, beating the Celtics again in 6 games. The rivalry re-ensued in the 2010 finals, which not so surprisingly stretched to 7 games. Another chapter in the glorious rivalry was settled, and one can be least assured that the future promises many such encounters.

The history and the legends set apart, the above mentioned rivalries have given us countless moments that are permanently etched into our memories. The dying seconds of the game, with the shot clock running down, when a particular Kobe Bryant steps up to deliver the final nail in the coffin. He would be hurting, bruised and battered, with his body failing to follow his mind. His lungs and muscles would act repulsive, and fail to follow his mind. It is the time when he has to muster up that extra motivation and desire, rise above the pain and stand up to the challenge. The whole crowd would be going berserk, chanting his name and egging him to shoot. This is the stage that calls for champions to show up, the stage where heroes are born, legends are scripted, when all the effort put into the game over a period of 48 mins can all be nullified with a single shot. The time when Kobe leans back to shoot his characteristic fade-away over the outreached hands of the defenders; the sight of the ball going through the basket, the crowd erupting in joy, the rival team’s shell-shocked expressions, the jubilation on the faces of his team, all trying to soak in the essence and magnificence of the moment. Moments like these happen once in a lifetime and reside forever in the memories of the people who lived it. This is what the NBA identifies itself with and in short validates the tag-line of the league:-“Where Impossible Happens”