One of the most intense rivalries in sports history has existed between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers for many years.
These two teams have consistently been at or near the top of the league, whether it was during the Bill Russell, Jerry West, and Elgin Baylor era, on “Showtime” with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson facing off against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, when Kobe Bryant faced off against the Celtics’ big three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, or even now when LeBron James and Anthony Davis face off against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
With their victory in 2020, the Lakers tied the Celtics for the most championships with 17, capping a long period in which L.A. had been attempting to overtake Boston. Both of these franchises are still vying for their 18th championship, which would be the most in league history, despite the competition perhaps not being as fierce as it once was.
According to The Athletic NBA Show, Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is attempting to secure No. 18 before Boston in memory of the late, great Dr. Jerry Buss, who purchased the team with the intention of elevating them to the top of the food chain:
“Well, at the moment, it’s similar to how you can’t have LeBron and Steph [Curry] in the Finals because we are in the same conference. If you give it some thought, the Celtics and Lakers are both at number 17, and if we do play them, the winner gets number 18. It was therefore my dad’s intention to make the Lakers capable of holding their own against the Celtics when he purchased the team in 1979.
The last meeting in the NBA Finals between the two teams was in 2010 when the Lakers won in seven games, clinching their 16th championship in L.A.
Both the Celtics and Lakers were in the Conference Finals this past season but were unable to advance to the Finals with L.A. losing to the Denver Nuggets in four games and the Celtics losing to the Miami Heat in seven games. A storybook ending would be for these two to meet in the Finals in the near future to compete for that elusive 18th title.
Boston added another offensive weapon in Kristaps Porzingis this summer, giving them another scoring option outside of Tatum and Brown. The Lakers added more depth around their stars with pieces like Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince and Christian Wood, while retaining Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura, so it could very well be a possibility this season.
Jarred Vanderbilt feels Game 2 was Lakers’ best chance in Western Conference Finals against Nuggets
It was a remarkable turnaround for the Lakers making drastic moves at the February trade deadline, going from the 13th seed to seventh in the West Then advancing all the way to the Conference Finals where they were unfortunately swept by the eventual champion Nuggets. Jarred Vanderbilt felt the team’s best chance in that series was stealing Game 2 in Denver, but that didn’t happen and then Denver took control of the series.
