Rilvary- Myth vs Reality?

[snaquille oatmeal]

The Classic NBA finals- The Lakers vs Celtics.

well I have been a fan of the Lakers since the 80's and I vividly remember the rilvary between Magic and Bird. it felt like threre was a real rilvary between those two. Magic had taken Birds college trophy and it irked Bird to no end. when they play in the NBA Bird would make it a point that he was not just beating the Lakers he was personally beating Magic and vice a versa. the rest of the players hated eachother and you could feel it. now that was a rilvary!

so here we are again and aside of the franchise rilvary (which has not been relevant in so long that I am a bit disapointed I don't feel like it is even an issue) I am failing to really see a rilvary between this new Lakers and new Celtics.

the subplots that the media will make a big deal about are the franchises, Phil vs Red, the fans, Kobe vs KG competitve nature and the Celtics players vs the LA players.

the franchises- there is history there no doubt, but it feels like when the Lakers play the Kings now in the sense that you know is gonna be a very competitive game and any team could win, but the rilvary is long gone and come on, will a Lakers win really make a dent on the overall greatness of the Celtics franchise? do the Celtics need another championship to let the NBA know that they are the best in its history?

Phil vs Red- is there any fun in beating a dead guy? and I don't mean Doc Rivers either.

the fans- although the Celtics fans have not learned yet that the "beat LA" chant helps the Lakers more than it hurts them it is only natural that the two fan bases go at eachother full force during the finals. would not expect anything less, but then how can you get mad at fans that chanted MVP just a year ago for a guy in your team team.

Kobe vs KG competitive nature- this two are competitive because of their desire to win not because they want to beat eachother personally like Bird and Magic did.

the rest of the players- Pierce is from LA and his team growing up was the Lakers and his most hated team was the Celtics can anybody really say that there isn't any bittersweet irony in his heart. I doubt the Laker Euros even knew the rilvary history between this two franchises prior to Friday. the Kobe-Allen thing happen a long time ago and since then they have become friends. KG lives in LA and hangs out with Kobe in the summers. Kendrick always looks p***ed at the world and not particularly at the Lakers.

other than the natural desire for ones team to win is there a real rilvary this time around or is it all a myth?

[ChocolateThundr]

I agree. If there is going to be a new rivalry, the rivalry cant start until these two teams meets again in the finals next year and the year after. It has to be atleast 3 years in a row.

[LakerFanMan]

I don't know about 3 years, but there diffinitly is no rivalry as of right now. The funny thing is, I remember saying this in a "Boston fans chant MVP for Kobe" thread like a year ago, and I got absolutly destroyed by laker fans and others for saying the rivalry was dead.

[ubernathan]

There is a rivalry, though it doesn't measure up to the rivalry of yesteryear.

[Pancho_Pantera]

Didn't read any of that, but the lack of rivalries in the NBA kind of sucks. All the other sports have pretty good rivalries.

[CatNation]

for some reason Ray and Kobe hate each other. IDK why

[Myth_Breaker]

I tend to never go vs. reality, it's just a tad too powerful for me. So please change the topic of the poll accordingly, thanks.

[snaquille oatmeal]

for some reason Ray and Kobe hate each other. IDK why

during the 2004 season Allen made a comment about Kobes selfishness and lit up the Lakers for something like 45 points in the LA/Sonics meeting after that then Kobe went on to make a fool of him the rest of the games. since then they have made peace with eachother and hang out occassionally. this year Kobe was asked what his favorite movie was and he said it was the Spike Lee movie starting Ray Allen and Denzel Washington and gave Allen mad props for his acting and keeping up with Denzel. didn't sound like Kobe has a beef with him anymore.

[cdubbz]

I can't agree more. The media is hyping up the old rivalry when their isnt a current rivalry between the two teams. A year ago both of these teams were in the gutter. NBA rivalries arent like college rivalries or any other sport rivalries where two teams HATE each other no matter what and no matter who is on which team. For examply the Yankees/Redsox rivalry is deep and it never dies no matter what current players are on the team.
In the NBA a rivalry is made by trash talking really and a lot of good battles. Kings/Lakers is probably the best rivalry in the decade, but it didnt last long.

[raff]

I was having this very conversation with a friend a few weeks ago. I believe that any rivalry between these teams purely comes from the media pushing the idea that its the Celtics and the Lakers. Like its been said, the rivalry these two teams had in the 80s came from Magic and Bird, and grew from there. Now, there is nothing resembling that level of intensity between these teams apart from people continuously trying to relive the past.

If you want a Lakers Celtics rivalry, let them create a new one this finals series, and leave the old one in its place in history.

[Rerisen]

If the players shake hands and act buddy buddy either before or after the games, its not a real rivalry.

No honestly, I think right now its more a media based rivalry than anything else. Perhaps still legit to older fans of the two teams who were around back when the franchises met in the 80's as well.

But for these particular two teams that are playing this year, it won't be a rivalry until at least well into this series depending on how it goes. Maybe it will extend into next year and beyond if it becomes an emotional 7 game series and then both teams are contenders again next year.

[pewing33ny]

didn't lamar and jesus get in a fight this year?

i do agree that it's not a "rivalry" yet though. but i think it's going to get ugly and if it's a long series they're going to kill each other. i like the lakers and hate boston but i have a feeling sasha is going to flop and really piss off someone like ray who already doesn't like kobe/odom.

i'm just kind of rambling and not contributing. there just isn't anything to talk about until the series starts and i'm getting giddy at the possibilities.

[EHL]

You can have a rivalry and shake hands and be friends off the court. If you know anything about the friendship and respect Bird and Magic had for each other, then without question you can have a rivalry where the best players are buddy-buddy.

[akikan]

Yea, theres no rivalry now and I really doubt theres going to be one.
Really, just because you duke it out in the finals will not make a rivalry. miami-dallas? spurs-cavs? lakers-76ers?
there might be a chance of one starting if they meet again next year, but really, these teams are good, but lakers arent going to have an easy trip in a supposedly even more loaded west next year, and celtics arent gonna cruise either with, you know, the hawks and cavs playing in the east.

[LakerLegend]

You guys don't understand something. The Lakers and Celtics have played each other in 10 Finals. Not just the one's in the 80's. It dates back to the Minneapolis Lakers. The two most dominant franchises in league history. It's the two toughest kids on the block meeting to slug it out...again.

[akikan]

You guys don't understand something. The Lakers and Celtics have played each other in 10 Finals. Not just the one's in the 80's. It dates back to the Minneapolis Lakers. The two most dominant franchises in league history. It's the two toughest kids on the block meeting to slug it out...again.

Yea, but none of those players are still there and most fans(well maybe theres still quite a few, I dont know) dont remember that "heated" rivalry. right now it has cooled off to the point where they probably think of each other as just another nba team.
You cant just expect two teams to just light it up when its been cold for 20 years.

[The Main Event]

Currently there is no rivalry between the two teams. Zero, Nada. The media obviously loves bringing up the past becasue it gives them an angle that will intrigue viewers. The reality is that calling this a "rivalry" is the equivalent of a person being mad at another person because years ago their two families had a bunch of arguments.