10 Revenge Championships in NBA History

1985 Finals: Los Angeles Lakers 4-2 Boston Celtics

Magic Johnson (L) Larry Bird (R)

1984 Finals: Boston Celtics 4-3 Los Angeles Lakers

You'll often hear people say "No all-time great player has ever choked in the Finals like LeBron did back in 2011." Well, that's not true because a certain Magic Johnson did in 1984.

I could go on and on about the ways in which Magic and Worthy blew that Finals and it would take all day. In short, the Lakers should have won that Finals, but blew it at the end of Games 2 and 4 when they had a chance to go up 2-0 and 3-1 respectively.

Both teams didn't face much competition in getting back to the Finals and the Celtics made a statement in Game 1 by demolishing LA 148-114. The Lakers responded well and won the next two and looked to be in position yet again to go 3-1 up.

They were up 103-101 with a minute left but Boston responded and Dennis Johnson hit a shot at the buzzer to win Game 4. I'm sure some Lakers players got flashbacks of the previous Finals but they bounced back and won the next 2 Games relatively easily to win it in six.

Kareem would be crowned Finals MVP while Magic and Worthy atoned for their choke job with solid performances. The revenge angle is obviously elevated with the Laker-Celtic mystique and this one meant a whole lot more for the Lakers than the other titles. This was the first time in eight tries that the Lakers had beaten the Celtics in the Finals and victory probably never tasted sweeter.