Growing up in New England in the 80’s the biggest rivalry in sports was not Red Sox Yankees, as it is today. It was Lakers Celtics, and maybe even more so Bird Magic. One of my favorite stories from that period, is their first meeting in the NBA Finals in 1984. The Celtics were down 2 games to 1 and had just been humiliated by a score of 137-104. During the post game Bird made the following comments:
“We just played like a bunch of women tonight (sorry Hillary). You know we got some great players on this team, but we don’t have the players with the heart some time that we need.”
The next game Kevin McHale clotheslined Kurt Rambis and the rest is history. Celtics went on to win 4 -3.
I would be lying if I didn’t say that my love affair with the Celtics changed after the retirement of Bird and the death of Reggie Lewis. But today, the Celtics are back, and after all these years it is fitting that the Lakers are the team they must go through in order to hang banner 17.
From Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe
Time to dust off the old Larry Bird/Magic Johnson posters. Thursday night on Causeway Street, the Celtics will host the same franchise they faced when they last advanced this far in 1987 - the Los Angeles Lakers. It’ll be the 11th Finals matchup between the Celtics and Lakers.
(Why not dust off a pic of my favorite Sega Genesis game as well)
SUBSCRIBE TO RSS
May 31st, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Kenyon, you are in heaven right now. No offense, but I like Pierce and Kobe more than honky Bird and Magic. I’ve watched PP and Kobe for their entire careers and can’t wait to see next week’s series.