4. McHale Clotheslines Rambis (1984)
If you’re a bit confused as to why a Lakers player getting his clock absolutely cleaned by a Celtics player is on this list, I promise that it will all make sense; just bear with me.
In Game 4 of the 1984 NBA Finals as Magic and Bird were going back-and-forth in a fantastic series, Lakers power forward Kurt Rambis was driving down the floor for a lay-up when Celtics forward Kevin McHale absolutely decked the Lakers man with a huge clothesline that sent Rambis to the floor. The two teams obviously got into a scuffle after that before Boston went onto win the series in seven games.
Why this is a great moment for the Lakers in the context of the rivalry, though, is the fact that this moment took the rivalry to another level. At that point, it was a rivalry hinging on the two most storied franchises and clearly the two best teams in the league facing off with one another. After McHale decked Rambis, that got taken to new heights. The element of physicality was added to the rivalry that really made it something even more memorable. It took the rivalry from being something about pride and glory to also having a personal element that’s irreplaceable.
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