Lakers/Celtics rivalry-Hate

EArl · Post #1 » by **EArl** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:49 am

For obvious reasons we Lakers fans abhor the Celtics now a days.
My question to you guy is when did you start hating the Celtics? and why?
I mean i personally can't remember why I started to hate them or even how. Growing up watching the Lakers it was implied to me that as a Lakers fan, hating the Celtics came with the territory. (I started to watch basketball during the mid 90's when I was old enough to understand it so by then the rivalry of the Magic/Bird era was already dead)

FullCircle · Post #2 » by **FullCircle** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:10 am

I didn't become a coherent Lakers fan until 88, 89ish. I always knew I was supposed to hate the Celtics because of the history, but the Celtics were always terrible, and I had no other real reason to hate them, other than by default.

The hate began the day Garnett went to the Celtics.

It got real the day they wiped the floor with us when we lost to them in the "short shorts" experiment game.

It became a part of my DNA during the 08 finals.

Anklebreaker702 · Post #3 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:10 am

Well I saw the Magic-Bird rivalry first hand. It did fuel hatred but by the end it turned to respect........but for Bird only.

I wasn't around for all the 60's mis fires but I have gone back & checked the history books & twice we led those series 3-1 to let it slip away. So we as Laker fans kind of dwell on how things would be had we won just those 2 series.

Where the hatred starts to come in for me is today's time where the arrogant Celtics fans act like they still own us. Losing to them in '08 didn't help one bit because it was in that same 60's type fashion. Up 24 points in a game to tie the series & blow it & down once again.

The reason why I respect Bird is because he respects us. When KG was on the trading block the T-Wolves owner said we had the best deal on the table & to get the deal done. What does McHale & Ainge do? Cut Bird out of the equation, undermine the owner just to stick it to the Lakers & bolster the Celtics. How did that turn out? They got 1 title, we got 2 & they allowed us to keep the piece that made it possible to get D 12.

See what happens when you shake hands with the devil?

SashAlex · Post #4 » by **SashAlex** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 10:33 am

I didn't like em before 2007/2008 and I started to really hate them after the 2008 Finals.

I can't describe this feeling, but all I know is that it is hate.

Dallas sweeped us last year. No problem. Boston beat us without Bynum, pure hate. And I can't stand Paula Pierce and Allen's covered arrogance, in the past of course, as he's now in South beach. KG is plain nuts and Rondo is an allien.

The only green I can stand is of the nature.

Matt6288 · Post #5 » by **Matt6288** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:59 pm

I've only been watching basketball for a couple of years now but my brother is a celtics fan and any time we talk about basketball he'll say there better because they've got 1 more championship (even though they only have 1 in the last 25 years) so I mostly hate the fans and partly hate them because.....well....you have to

Stebo_SSK · Post #6 » by **Stebo_SSK** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:33 pm

Im more of new Laker fan. Originally started being a Kobe fan in 02 or so. Didnt really become a full fledged LA fan til a little later. Celtic hate is something is more prevalent in the 70s and 80s. Most LA fans are usually more concerned about the Heat nowadays.

Another thing, its become more of a player's league anyway. Alot of LA fans especially me find it hard to hate players like KG, Ray allen and Paul Pierce due to how good they were and that they were on terrible teams for the majority of their careers.

Anklebreaker702 · Post #7 » by **Anklebreaker702** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:53 pm

Stebo_SSK wrote:Im more of new Laker fan. Originally started being a Kobe fan in 02 or so. Didnt really become a full fledged LA fan til a little later. Celtic hate is something is more prevalent in the 70s and 80s. Most LA fans are usually more concerned about the Heat nowadays.

Another thing, its become more of a player's league anyway. Alot of LA fans especially me find it hard to hate players like KG, Ray allen and Paul Pierce due to how good they were and that they were on terrible teams for the majority of their careers.

I don't think to many here will agree with you Stebo especially seeing you're more of a new comer. That '08 loss refueled the fire for all Laker fans. Everyone kept saying the series would have turned out much different had we had a healthy Ariza & Bynum. They kept saying injuries are part of the game. What happens 2 short years later? They started spouting off about had Perkins not got hurt.

No one I know is worried about the Heat as far as Laker hatred towards them. We'd have to meet them in the Finals a couple of times just to start up a rivalry

Post #8 » by **dockingsched** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:07 pm

started hating the celtics in 08. to be honest, before that, the celtics were completely 100% irrelevant to me. i wasn't old enough to understand anything til i was 9-10 yrs old, and by time i was watching the nick van exel / vlade divac / elden campbell / eddie jones lakers.

Stebo_SSK · Post #9 » by **Stebo_SSK** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:08 pm

I get what you mean Anklebreaker but with me being 26, alot of fans my age or a bit younger have no qualms with the Celtics due to that team being pretty much irrelevant for our lifetimes. I grew up watching the current Celtic big 3 on other teams as fans of those players. So the hate really isnt there since we grew up watching Boston get washed throughout the NBA. Now alot of younger fans in this generation are more about their fav players vs fav teams. Alot of die hard Kobe stans hate Lebron and vice versa. This is was really fuels the current rivalries.

stillflossin · Post #10 » by **stillflossin** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:23 pm

I'm 26-or-under and I think it's easy to hate any team you play in consecutive finals. Especially after Paul Pierce got carted off in a wheel chair only to re-enter the game... that guy is just the worst, and emblematic of their team. I know it's a players league but it's still a team sport.

Sedale Threatt · Post #11 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:29 pm

I don't have much ill will toward the Heat at all. What little I do have is limited to the court. And as a basketball fan, I thoroughly enjoy watching LeBron James. I'm not in junior high any more, so the whole "Kobe vs. LeBron" thing is a complete non-issue for me.

But with the Celtics, even though I was a little young in the 80s to fully grasp the rivalry, and even though they were completely irrelevant for a good two decades, it was so easy to slip back into the hatred. Like an old pair of jeans. Not only are the Celtics a legitimately unlikable team, so is their fan base.

All in all, it's fun to have a rivalry that elicits that kind of emotion. With the Heat, I don't even feel it at all. How can you truly hate a team you haven't even played in the playoffs?

The Skyhook · Post #12 » by **The Skyhook** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 3:50 pm

Since I wasn't around in the 80s to experience the Lakers Celtics rivalry at one of its most intense points I won't sit here and pretend I know how some of you guys feel about the rivalry. However I can say that my hate for the Celtics comes from our loss to the Celtics in the 2008 Finals. Had the Lakers never lost in 2008 then chances are the Lakers walk away with a 3peat. It would have also meant that the Lakers are the ones with 17 championships while the Celtics have 16.

The way the Celtics beat us in 2008 stings. On top of that you had Celtics fans claiming that they would have beat us in 2010 if Perkins never went down yet they completely ignored the fact that we didn't have Bynum in 2008. I always think of what beating the Celtics twice In the Finals to pull ahead of them in championships would have meant for Kobe's legacy as a Laker. Then you also have to think about what a 2nd 3peat (this time as the man) does for his legacy on the all time list. A lot of things could have been different if the Lakers won a championship in 2008 and then went on to win it all in 2009 and 2010.

LApwnd · Post #13 » by **LApwnd** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:27 pm

pretty much 08 did it for me, wasn't in the states yet in the 80's and LA/Bos never met for anything important again until 08.

Post #14 » by **Kilroy** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:32 pm

As a little kid, HATED Kevin McHale, HATED Dennis Johnson, HATED Danny Ainge, Hated/Respected Robert Parish, Hated/Respected/Feared Bird...

With Hate comes a certain amount of respect...

The '07-Present Celtics aren't as respectable for me... I hate/Despised Ray Allen, but he was just passing through...

Paul Pierce, KG, Baby, Perkins just disgust me... I loved beating them, but none of them were on the level of the Bird Celtics for me.

And even then, Like Doc, I pretty much thought they were irrelevant until they did their little victory/bash-Lakers tour after the 07-08 finals... That BS at the ESPY's made me hate them...

But the Bird Celtics did everything to make me hate them on the court... So it ran deeper for me and I respected them for it...

Josephpaul · Post #15 » by **Josephpaul** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:21 pm

Day 1 I hated Boston celtics.

dirtymike · Post #16 » by **dirtymike** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:30 pm

Listen youngsters....

I was around in the 80s. It was a brutal series everytime the Lakers and the Celtics met in the Finals. Now, I live in FL and have always lived here. My first hatred of the Celtics was in 83-84. The way I saw the fans scream at the Lakers when they played in Boston. The weird way the ball would bounce away from the dribbling Lakers' players because of the raggedy a** court in Boston. The dumb way that ML Carr would be cheer-leading from the bench with his sorry a**! How sneaky and freakishly good McHale was. And how great Bird was. The way they would beat teams mostly because other teams didnt have their hustle and grind like the Celtics had. I just couldnt understand how a bunch of white boys could beat a bunch of brothers in the game of basketball. I mean, they would straight out hustle them! That opened my eyes and mind up REALLY quickly! I hated them because they were just so damn good!

Sedale Threatt · Post #17 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:05 pm

ML Carr was the absolute worst. A pox on him.

SashAlex · Post #18 » by **SashAlex** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:23 pm

I'm 24 years old and all I know about the rivalry from the 80s is only what I've read and seen on tapes. It was cool to watch many of those games, but I didn't feel the same level of hatred I felt during the 2008 finals. I felt like I lost that title. But the thing that annoyed the most, us Lakers fans, was the behaviour of those goblins after the finals and and the years after. Maaan, I remember how upseting it was to see Ray Allen's arrogance at ESPY's in LA that summer and etc. etc.

I never felt as upset after the Spurs beat us a couple of times in the playoffs in the past 10 years as in 2008. And you could say the same about the players. Many of them were OK with the Celtics up until those finals. The loss was tough to swallow for everyone in the Lakerland.

Hate is built from many small details. One of them is a tough loss in a final series, once or twice etc. But for me the most important thing is how that organization, the players mostly, behave afterwards. The Celtics behaved the way that fueled my hate towards them all.

Post #19 » by **dockingsched** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:29 pm

Sedale Threatt wrote:ML Carr was the absolute worst. A pox on him.

you tell em ST!

EArl · Post #20 » by **EArl** » Mon Aug 20, 2012 9:53 pm

I have to agree with everyone here, i didn't really start hating the Celtics until they whipped us bad in the 08 finals. Before that they were pretty much irrelevant. Something about KG's arrogance just made it worse. I do like that in the 80's we got the last laugh with magic beating Bird and we will probably get this one also because i don't see the Celtics making it to the finals and if they do you can be sure that we will kicking ass and taking names!