Who is the real team of destiny here?

[HMFFL]

This is not about a time warp, or the NBA days of yore when Lakers Jerry West and Elgin Baylor were annually stuck in a maze of futility against Bill Russell's Celtics.

It isn't about the storied Magic Johnson-Larry Bird rivalry either -- a time when the Lakers finally broke through against the Celtics to win an NBA title in Los Angeles (for the record, they won five in Minneapolis before moving to the West Coast in 1961).

That was then. This is now.

We're talking about the Kevin Garnett's Celtics and Kobe Bryant's Lakers, circa 2008.

There is a sense of destiny for them to meet in the Finals come June, even if there is a real possibility neither will even win their respective conferences. But both teams earned their No. 1 seeds, and are eminently capable of carrying that all the way to a championship trophy.

Deciding on which team will come away with the trophy is the unenviable task here.

Whereas nobody is surprised with the way the Celtics have performed this season, few, if any, anticipated the Lakers coming out of the West with the top seed. Coming into training camp, Bryant had been demanding a trade, owner Jerry Buss got angry in the media, and there seemed little chance that the Lakers would coalesce.

Instead, coach Phil Jackson's steady hand developed the bench into one of the best in the league, 20-year-old center Andrew Bynum turned into a double-double machine, and Derek Fisher returned as a free agent for veteran leadership and the dead-eye 3-pointer as the starting point guard. And Lamar Odom continued his uneven role of flashing greatness then disappearing. It was good enough to contend amid the incredibly close top nine teams in the West until Bynum went down with a knee injury in January.

That changed everything.

That's when general manager Mitch Kupchak waved his magic wand to come up with Pau Gasol from Memphis to man the low post. Dealing Kwame Brown, Javaris Crittenton and two first-round draft picks didn't put a dent in the rotation and Gasol fit in as if he'd been there for years. It gave Bryant more options and opened an entirely new pathway for Odom to play the best ball of his career. And the Lakers took off. With Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar, Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf and Vladimir Radmanovic contributing in various degrees to the success, the sailing has been surprisingly smooth.

Invariably, it comes down to Bryant, but because of Gasol's presence and ability to feed both Bryant and Odom out of the post, pressure has been relieved from all three. It has created a special chemistry. Bynum still hasn't returned and isn't likely to, but why should he? At his age, the uncertainty of returning from a dislocated and severely bruised kneecap could cause more harm than good at this point. (Next season, however, the front line of Gasol, Odom and Bynum should be unstoppable, but that's a different story). Consequently, Bryant has emerged as a virtual lock to win his first MVP award.

Meanwhile, the Celtics have breezed through the Eastern Conference, just as anticipated once Danny Ainge ended his plight of building a team of teenagers.

Link

[SLCceltic]

we are the team of destiny b/c we blew through the east, west, north, and south

[P2]

we are the team of destiny b/c we blew through the east, west, north, and south

And also through the Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and Northwest.

[Truthiracy]

And the Southnorth

[cfan79]

Lakers already got their titles this decade. Its our turn.

[MyInsatiableOne]

We need to build our lead in # of titles against the Lakers (16 vs 9...no, I don't count the ones they won in Minny...that was a different team and a different city).

[cfan79]

We need to build our lead in # of titles against the Lakers (16 vs 9...no, I don't count the ones they won in Minny...that was a different team and a different city).

You're reading my mind Insatiable, I agree 100%. I was thinking about making a post about that.

[spf211]

The Lakers aren't the team of destiny because a Laker victory would mean:

-The vindication of one of the league's most selfish and hated players (Kobe Bryant) after running the greatest bigman of his era (Shaq) out of LA

-Further accolades for the most overrated coach in NBA history (Phil Jackson) and allowing Jackson to overtake a true basketball legened (Red Auerbach) in terms of championships

-Celebrating the rigged nature of the NBA, if the Lakers win this year it will be due largely, if not exclusively, to one of the most blatantly lopsided midseason trades. No -- this is not akin to gifts like McHale/Parish (a number 1 overall was included in that deal) -- this is outright theft in trading a career non-performer (Kwame Brown) for a certified 20-10 All-Star. The integrity of the sport is not supported by the success of a deal like this.

Simply put, if the Lakers are the "team of destiny" then you are either a Laker fan or have no soul [but these two things are not mutually exclusive].

[MyInsatiableOne]

The Lakers aren't the team of destiny because a Laker victory would mean:

-The vindication of one of the league's most selfish and hated players (Kobe Bryant) after running the greatest bigman of his era (Shaq) out of LA not to mention his rape trial and generally sleazy persona now.

-Further accolades for the most overrated coach in NBA history (Phil Jackson) and allowing Jackson to overtake a true basketball legend (Red Auerbach) in terms of championships

-Celebrating the rigged nature of the NBA, if the Lakers win this year it will be due largely, if not exclusively, to one of the most blatantly lopsided midseason trades. No -- this is not akin to gifts like McHale/Parish (a number 1 overall was included in that deal) -- this is outright theft in trading a career non-performer (Kwame Brown) for a certified 20-10 All-Star. The integrity of the sport is not supported by the success of a deal like this.

Simply put, if the Lakers are the "team of destiny" then you are either a Laker fan or have no soul [but these two things are not mutually exclusive].

^^Wow. Just Wow.

Everything you said is 100% true, not just from a Celtics fan's perspective but according to balance in the universe (I edited the entry on Kobe a bit to make it more complete).

Seriously, this should be carved into granite and posted in Washington, DC as national law.



BTW there is no such thing as a Lakers fan, just like there's no such thing as a Yankees fan...they love 'em when they're winning, don't care at all when they aren't, and don't know **** about the game (except for small # of hardcore fans of those teams who actually do exist...but like the Yeti, they are legend, rarely seen by the masses)

[CelticsWhat!]

So no one was surprised by the way the Celtics played this year? I think Vegas putting the o/u at 49 wins before the season would beg to differ.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Maybe they meant that with all that talen, no one was surprised they were successful. You can never predict # of wins, it's stupid to even try. But did anyone think the C's would miss the playoffs and win only 30-35 games? Probably not.

Although as the Hawks have shown, 35 wins could probably get you into the playoffs in the East!

[Truthiracy]

The Lakers aren't the team of destiny because a Laker victory would mean:

-The vindication of one of the league's most selfish and hated players (Kobe Bryant) after running the greatest bigman of his era (Shaq) out of LA

-Further accolades for the most overrated coach in NBA history (Phil Jackson) and allowing Jackson to overtake a true basketball legened (Red Auerbach) in terms of championships

-Celebrating the rigged nature of the NBA, if the Lakers win this year it will be due largely, if not exclusively, to one of the most blatantly lopsided midseason trades. No -- this is not akin to gifts like McHale/Parish (a number 1 overall was included in that deal) -- this is outright theft in trading a career non-performer (Kwame Brown) for a certified 20-10 All-Star. The integrity of the sport is not supported by the success of a deal like this.

Simply put, if the Lakers are the "team of destiny" then you are either a Laker fan or have no soul [but these two things are not mutually exclusive].

QFMFT

[MyInsatiableOne]

This thread should be locked now since spf basically won with that argument!

:rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking::rocking: