The party at the NBA offices must have been pretty off the hook. Do kids still say that? But despite the fact that the league will not admit to things like wanting certain match-ups in the Finals. Still it is not hard to figure out that a Celtics vs Lakers Final will do good business for the NBA and Ratings for T.V. Even the casual basketball fan is aware of the Lakers and Celtics. Kobe Bryant to is a draw all on his own. Bryant will have some cheering him and others wanting to watch him fall flat on his face. But the key word as far as the NBA is concerned is Watch. Tonight on CBS they are hoping to get people to watch their network by airing mixed martial arts on prime time T.V. The man bringing in the people is Kimbo Slice. He is apparently a guy that had his fame start from videos of him beating up dudes in someone’s back yard. The NBA is in the same entertainment world and have to be happy to have a huge drawing Finals set to begin on June 5th. Despite how much the world may change nothing sells in sports more than tradition.
The Celtics and Lakers have a long history that goes beyond Magic and Bird back to Russell and Chamberlin. You can make the case of being the greatest rivalary is all of sports. It has had many versions and this is the latest but not the greatest. Still this may not be a one and done for this latest version. The Lakers have the ability to be even better next year when Andrew Bynum returns to the Roster. The Celtics Big Three may have a window that lasts a few more years. It should be interesting to watch if these teams follow the scripts of the Bird Celtics and Johnson Lakers. In the 80’s it was all about these two franchises and they both owned the NBA Finals and one of two was always part of the Finals. The NBA as a whole is a lot better than it was back in the 80’s. These Celtics and Lakers have a lot more teams that are hungry and talented to deal with. So even though the chance of more of these Finals showdowns exsist down the line, It is not certain they will happen so enjoy this one while it is here.
So who is going to win? Hard for me to bet against the Lakers right now. They defeated the defending champions and throughout the playoffs have been dominante. Celtics have taken the harder road to the finals and at times have not looked good at all. It should be fun to watch. Lots of time to talk about it so we will leave it at that for today.
Tags: Celtics, David Stern, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, NBA FINALS 2008
May 31, 2008 at 10:55 pm |
I think that the Greatest Rivalry in sports is Redsox and Yankees, by far.
June 1, 2008 at 9:16 am |
Thanks for the help John. I have been under the weather last couple days and did not give this read over obviously it was needed. So Thanks