Lakers vs Celtics, NBA Final Should Be A Classic...

The chanting in and of itself didn't mean much; in fact, it probably struck many as a bit sophomoric. And there's certainly nothing original about people in an arena chanting, "Beat L.A.! Beat L.A!" What gave it context Friday night was that the men proclaiming they were ready for the Los Angeles Lakers were the Boston Celtics, a newly earned silver trophy in their midst. Already, it was like old times, like the best of times.
Lakers-Celtics is the Yankees-Red Sox, the Duke-North Carolina, the Michigan-Ohio State of professional basketball. The Celtics have won 16 NBA championships, the Lakers have won 14 -- which means those two clubs have won nearly half of the league's 61 titles. Neither invented the game, but both defined it, refined it, made it relevant. Between 1959 (when the Lakers still played in Minneapolis) and 1987, the Lakers and Celtics played each other 10 times in the NBA Finals. The Celtics, with Red Auerbach and Bill Russell leading the way, won the first eight. The Lakers, with Magic Johnson lashing back, won the last two.
They are the pillars on which the league rests, and getting them to meet in the Finals for the first time in 21 years is a godsend for the league and television partner ABC after years of declining interest. Twenty years ago, a Lakers-Celtics championship series had become predictably boring to some, even with Magic and Larry Bird dueling. But two decades of absence has apparently made the heart grow fonder, especially because this 11th matchup comes totally and almost absurdly out of the blue.

A year ago today, both teams were stinkers. The Lakers were trying to figure out what to do about Kobe Bryant's pointed criticism of management and subsequent trade demand. Had Bryant been traded, it's pretty safe to say the Lakers likely wouldn't have made the playoffs, much less the Finals. The Celtics, having won a measly 24 games last season, were in even worse shape. They were mourning not winning the NBA draft lottery (again) despite having the league's second-worst record. And had they won the lottery and selected Greg Oden, they likely would be on a five-year building plan, but certainly not in the Finals.
It's been a while since the NBA had this kind of good fortune.
Each of the four major team sports in America enjoys a bump in popularity when its signature teams, particularly ones with championship pedigree, play for the championship. The NHL is overjoyed that the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins are in the Stanley Cup finals. About the only thing better would be Detroit vs. Montreal.What helps is that the current members of both teams are old enough and appreciative enough to know the significance of the two teams returning to the final series.
"What pretty much got me started in basketball, growing up in Los Angeles, [was] watching the Lakers and the Celtics," Boston's Paul Pierce said. "And it's ironic, just being a Celtic, growing up, now you're playing against the Lakers in the Finals. As a kid, I hated the Celtics. I'm going back home to play against my team that I grew up watching. It's a dream come true, just thinking about it. I think that rivalry really revolutionized the game of basketball . . . and now I'm part of it."

Source: nbcsports.msnbc.com