STICKY!! Rivalries

[ws26]

Hey, I'm gonna write an article on rivalries and I wanted some feedback.
I was hoping that you could give me a list of the team you would consider your rival, scale that rivalry 1-10, and your most hated player in the league (on any team).
Thanks.

[ss1986v2]

ok, lets see:

rockets - 6/10 - instate rivalry, history going back to dream abusing drob.
mavericks - 6.5/10 - instate rivalry, more current than with houston.
phoenix - 7/10 - more of a rivalry for phoenix, but we enjoy putting them down each year.
lakers - 8.5/10 - lots of history there in the last 10 years. best team = biggest rival.
utah - 4/10 - more a remnant from the drob era, when malone had our number. been one-sided in the duncan era.

id think that given time, that a chris paul led hornets would push utah completely out of mind, but there is just not enough history there yet. but last playoffs was a nice start.

as for most hated player, that one is difficult. if we were talking all time, id pick malone. all spurs fans still remember his KO of drob, and just his general attitude while on the court. shaq may come up, but i just cant hate him (he runs his mouth, but its all just talk, the same way it was/is with barkley). kobe will probably get a mention too, based on the laker rivalry, and the "best player in the league" debate with duncan. i dont really hold a grudge against anyone in particular at the moment though.

[HarlemHeat37]

good summary from SS..

I'd put Phoenix and Dallas higher though..

Dallas because both teams are always fired up to play each other..they built their team strictly to beat us in their prime years with the great 7-game series..we played them in the playoffs a few times earlier in the decade..

Phoenix is definitely one-sided, but the rivalry would get an 8 out of me..more so because of all the drama..the suspensions to Stoudemire and Diaw, the fights, the fact that Suns players called our team dirty, the addition of Shaq..

for player..from my experience, a lot of Spurs fans hate Kobe, and you can put me at the front of the list..but I wouldn't necessarily put him here..tough pick..Amare Stoudemire is a good one IMO for current players..I hate his attitude and the way he plays, and he also called our Bowen and the rest of our team for "the way we play"..

[ss1986v2]

yeah, i was a little conservative with my numbers (you could add a point or a half to each of mine). but i set a "10" to be a "yanks-sox" level rivalry. i just dont see any of our rivalries to be anywhere near that level.