I not only hate the Los Angeles Lakers, I hate everything they represent.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know my beloved Boston Celtics are meeting the wretched L.A. Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals starting tomorrow. But what you probably don’t know is my friends JR, whose site can be found here, and Jack here, are rotten Lakers fans. And the two of us have come up with a wager for this series: the loser has to paint their body in the colors of the opposing team and perform a cheer on video, which will be broadcast throughout the blogosphere and ridiculed for all of eternity.
But friendly wagers aside, this series is really phenomenal. Why, you ask? Allow me to explain.
Boston versus Los Angeles. East coast versus West coast. Blue collar gumption vs. Hollywood glitz. Or as I like to refer to it: Flash (LA) versus Substance (Boston). These two teams currently account for 32 of the league’s 63 championships (Celtics have 17, Lakers 15). But in head to head matchups, the Celtics OWN the Lakers with a 9-2 record over the years.
But there’s no doubt the Lakers have the best player in the world in Kobe Bryant, but the thing is Kobe knows he’s the best player and has historically acted accordingly. He’s selfish, boorish and generally unliked outside of greater Los Angeles. He also raped a girl in 2003 and then got away with it, but that’s a whole other story. Meanwhile, the Celtics put the emphasis on team play. Every player is just as important as the other, and their unselfish play is what makes them great. Just ask the Lakers, who as recently as 2008 got their asses handed to them by the Celtics in the Finals despite being heavy favorites. And it only took six games.
But make no mistake, this rivalry extends WAY outside the confines of the Staple Center and the Garden.
Boston fans see the Lakers and their fans as soft. Pansies. Which, of course, they are. Just look at the star treatment Kobe gets from the refs, not to mention Gasol’s soft European style of play. You breathe on the guy and he reacts like someone hit him with a sledgehammer. The one guy who’s not soft, Ron Artest, just happens to be crazy. As in certifiably friggin insane. He’s the guy who jumped into the stands and started fighting fans when he played on Indiana. So what that means is he’s soft mentally and will surely be goaded by Boston’s cagey veterans.
Boston fans will chant “NO MEANS NO!” at Kobe and the familiar refrains of “BEAT L.A.!” will shake the Garden rafters like it’s 1984 all over again. Because the 80′s were when this thing really kicked off. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge, Cedric Maxwell, Dennis Johnson and company had some historic battles with Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, James Worthy and of course the hated Kurt Rambis.
Speaking of Rambis, check out this clip to see exactly how heated this thing got back in the day:
The most telling thing about that video is that Kevin McHale blatantly tries to rip Rambis’ head off. And how do Rambis’ teammates respond? James Worthy PUSHES RAMBIS when Rambis jumps up and tries to defend himself. Worthy pushes his own guy to the ground after he was just decked. It’s gutless, it’s soft…it’s classic Lakers basketball.
The Lakers can have all their stupid celebrity fans at the game. They can be content with lame poseurs who show up in the second quarter and then leave early to beat the traffic. Over there it’s not a game as much as a scene, and a place to be seen. I’ll take drunken Boston fans out for blood. Harassing Lamar Odom and his brainless “celebrity” wife. Calling Kobe out for the criminal that he is. I hope they attack the Lakers bus after they go home losers, just like they did in 2008.
Because I don’t just want the Lakers and their fans to lose, I want them crushed. Destroyed. I want them to go back to La-La Land not knowing what just hit them. And I want their obnoxious fans to shut the fuck up already, while choking on their already inflated sense of entitlement.
This is not just basketball, it’s war. And the Celtics are taking this thing, which means JR and several of my other Laker fans friends, will be clad in green and white while singing the praises of my team on video. And I will remind them each and every day for the next year that they root for an inferior team. I will rub their faces in it as much as possible. I will never relent, kind of like Kobe in a Colorado hotel room.
Celtics in six.
BEAT LA!!!!!!!
Looks like Fisher just got a little younger.
Also, me and Paul Pierce were both wrong. I said the Celtics were gonna win this game and Pierce said they weren’t going back to LA (Though Pierce may not be wrong).
The refs had nothing to do with the Lakers folding at the end of the game. It had everything to do with the Celtics being a veteran team who know how to close out games and force other teams into making mistakes.
Give credit where credit is due.
Funny, last night you said that the refs had nothing to do with it. It was nothing but the Lakers folding and now that the celtics have lost again it is the refs. Sorry Charlie, the inferior team lost again. They Lakers kicked their ass 95% of the game. Ray Allen disappeared again. So now he has one good game. Paul Pierce is a virtual no show, but KG came back.
Better hope that Big Baby and Rondo don’t imitate the old guys or we’ll throttle you completely the next two games. We rule, you suck. Hee hee.
Jack: The refs were terrible, but the Celtics did not play well in the final two minutes. And not getting back on defense for that Fisher layup was inexcusable at the end of the game.
But think about this:
Ray Allen did not have a field goal in the game. Now, if before the game someone told you that Ray Allen would be 0-13 with only 2 free throws and that Paul Pierce would once again play like complete dog shit, what would your guess be for the score? Lakers by 20, maybe 30? I know I’d say that.
Yet the Celtics were in it until the very end. Partly because KG tore Gasol apart and also because Big Baby played a really great game off the bench. But also because these Lakers don’t have a killer instinct. They allow the Celtics to hang around. When they were up 17 they could’ve put their foot on the gas but they didn’t. The Lakers can be scored upon, and pretty easily. The question is whether more than one of the Big 3 on the Celtics can play well in the same game. So far that hasn’t happened and the Celts haven’t played their best ball yet. That’s scary for the Lakers.
I still say the Celtics take this thing.
I’ll agree with you that the Lakers don’t have as well refined a killer instinct as the celtics. If they did the series would be 3-0 in favor of LA. They are the better team, it really isn’t that close talent wise. But Fisher and Kobe are assassins. They have four rings and two losses and a boatload of playoff experience.
Bynum has been a monster and he is hurt. Odom finally showed up and Artest has been a mixed bag. Gasol is solid and has been throughout the series. Our bench did a solid job yesterday and kept you guys from coming close. The Lakers big problem is that they play down to the level of the team they are up against.
If the celtics had more talent I’d feel better because the Lakers would play with a greater sense of urgency. Kobe hasn’t had his monster game yet, but it is coming. His playoff numbers this year are better than anyone else.
Have to say that I am most impressed with Big Baby. I give him lots of credit for energy and solid play. Won’t be enough. Rondo is solid, but so are Deron Williams and Chris Paul. Steve Nash isn’t half bad either, we know what it is like to play against good PGs.
Pierce made a mistake saying that the series isn’t coming back to LA. They haven’t forgotten the beating they took in ’08 and they will return the favor and then some. Remember, this is the third consecutive year that we have made it back to the championship. Experience and talent count for something.
There are some pretty big holes in that argument. But I’m going to use the same argument against you. When did Kobe, Gasol, Odom, Bynum, Fisher or Artest play their best game. I would still take any 3 of them having their best game against any 3 of the Celtics (you choose).
Rondo is a beast when he’s on. Ray Allen is a 30% 3-pt shooter. He had 1 great (record book) game. Pierce… whatever. KG had his 1 game for the series. Big baby? Are you serious? He’s been playing above his means. Sheed, Perkins? Hmmm… I’m getting tired just naming these players that would come off the bench in L.A. This is going to be a good series. But its probably time to back off of the “Celtics in 6″ chant. This one’s coming back to L.A. (maybe).
That’s funny, Jack! We were writing this at the same time.
If you think Big Baby is overachieving you haven’t been paying attention the last couple of years. He’s money in the playoffs. Has been from the start. This is par for the course for him.
Kobe, Gasol and Artest had 30/23/15 points in Game 1. In Game 2 Kobe, Bynum and Gasol went for 21/21/25 AND LOST! Meanwhile in the Celtics win, Allen explodes for 32 and Rondo had a triple double with 19 points. Pierce had 10. Garnett had 6.
My point is, your guys have played well simultaneously for most of the series. Yet it’s only 2-1. Meanwhile the Celtics, for whatever reason, haven’t come together yet and played the team ball they played all series. And yet they’re still right there at the end of games and still right in the thick of this.
You say the Lakers have the most talent. I’m not sure that’s true. Sure Kobe is the best player on the floor and I’ll even give you Gasol as the next best. But Rondo is better than Fisher, Pierce is better than Artest (although he hasn’t played like it lately) and I don’t care what you say, Garnett right now is better than a gimpy Bynum. I think these two teams are very evenly matched, but I believe the Celtics are the better team. But we’ll see.
If they lose I will own up to it but since that’s not gonna happen, I’m sticking with the Celtics. But I will amend to 7 games.
Ok. 7 games. Finally, a little respect.
Now, that was a very hard fought victory. My hats off to Boston and their fans. Not much to complain about there. The Boston Bench said they would win this game for the starters and they did. Looks like I will have to wait until Sunday for redemption.