All sports have their rivalries: Red Sox-Yankees in baseball, Bears-Packers in the NFL, Michigan-Ohio State in college football and Duke-UNC in college hoops. But those rivalries have matured over the decades because of frequent meetings and proximity. They began a regional tussles and thanks to TV, they grew into national spectacles.
Yet, what do those games decide? A conference title, a division championship, maybe a trip to the World Series?
While wild wins and memorable moments in those rivalries may be bragged about at the next kegger, tailgate or cocktail party, the NBA's greatest rivalry, the two teams with the most tradition -- the Lakers and the Celtics -- always has much more at stake. This one decides which team is the world's best.
It makes the others seem quaint, doesn't it? Few, if any, sports can say that a bulk of their league's tradition has been built on it's greatest stage. We can. These teams on opposite coasts are more than 2600 miles apart but no two NBA franchises are more closely tied together than the Celtics and the Lakers.
On Thursday, June 5 at 9 p.m. ET, the Celtics and the Lakers will be meeting in The Finals for the 11th time, with the Celtics owning the Lakers in eight of the 10 previous meetings. Celtics great Bill Russell earned seven of his 11 championship rings against the Lakers, whereas Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar helped the Lakers take the last two meetings between the two teams in 1985 and 1987.
What does this rivalry, this tradition represent in NBA history?
It's the first Finals sweep as Boston clobbered Minneapolis in 1959.
It's the Lakers' Frank Selvy missing a wide open jumper with the game tied at 100 in Game 7 of 1962.
It's Bob Cousy dribbling out the clock as Red lit his victory cigar.
It's Cousy and Auerbach getting their final titles at the Lakers' expense.
It's Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke putting balloons in the Forum's rafters in 1969 for Game 7 and workers having to pluck them out after, because Russell got No. 11 and the balloons never fell.
It's Russell after that 11th title failing to find the words in an interview with ABC, while Jerry West and Elgin Baylor probably could never find the words to describe why they couldn't beat the Celtics in six meetings in eight years.
It's because the NBA changed the way it did business in the Finals. We did away with the 2-2-1-1-1 format after 1984 when you had to fly 2,611 miles for Game 5, then back for Game 6, then back again for Game 7.
It's Finals at the Fabulous Forum and grimy, gritty games at the Garden.
In the '80s, it's "sissies" and "junior, junior" sky hooks, Memorial Day Massacres, clotheslines and towel waving.
It's Gerald Henderson's steal in '84 and Larry Bird finally getting the best of Magic.
One year later, it's Kareem's fountain of youth in '85 and the Lakers finally, FINALLY, beating the Celtics.
It's Magic making in Game 6 4 (thanks, Mitchellman, it was late) in '87 and Bird missing.
This is what it means when we talk about tradition. The passing of these memories from one generation to the next. You may remember them because of the frequency, but more important, you remember these matchups for the quality.
"That's pretty much what got me started watching basketball, growing up in Los Angeles, watching the Celtics and Lakers," Paul Pierce said. "I'm going back home to play against the team I grew up watching and it's a dream come true, man, just thinking about it. I think that rivalry pretty much revolutionized the game of basketball and now I'm part of it."
This year, the tradition begins anew. For the first time since 1998, the Finals won't feature a team with either Shaquille O'Neal or Tim Duncan. This will be Kobe Bryant's first Finals as the Lakers' main man. For Boston's Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, this will be their first Finals.
This old rivalry is new again. The legends have moved to their rightful places in the Hall of Fame. The old Garden's gone. So is the Forum. There are new buildings in both cities with more seats and suites, but the tradition remains.
But it's time to add to this tradition. It's time to make new memories. We've got another generation right behind us.
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