Lakers and Celtics eternally linked

Learn about the history of the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics in relation to acquiring of the 1st and 2nd overall picks in this year’s Draft

The Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics are forever linked, whether they like it or not.

Bushels of glimmering purple and gold streamers poured out over a sea of jubilant Laker fans — culmination of another chapter in a storied rivalry between perhaps the biggest rivalry in all of sports, certainly in the NBA.

Moments prior to the exultation of victory, seconds ticked down during the fourth quarter in Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals.

Lamar Odom hurled an outlet pass that seemed to have reached Olympic Boulevard for purposes solely to run out the clock, as an exhausted yet hysterical Kobe Bryant chased after and once again the Lakers stood on top of the NBA, exacting revenge on their arch enemy.

Two years prior, the Celtics and Lakers met in the NBA Finals in a rekindling of a rivalry that has spanned more than 40 years and had last been ignited in 1987.

In 2008, the Lakers lost to the Celtics in the Finals, 4 games to 2, with Game 6 ending in embarrassing defeat, losing 131-92, the worst margin of defeat in a Finals-clinching game.

Once the historic walloping was over, the Lakers looked deflated, walking off the parquet floor, endlessly showered with Celtic green and white confetti, and a dejected Bryant treading off in tow.

Most of those feelings endured in Game 6 in 2008 certainly have lingered, but the series clinching victory in Game 7 of the 2010 Finals mended some of the agony, leaving a then 32-year-old Kobe Bryant and the Lakers with the last laugh.

That was then, and this is now.

Beantown vs. Tinseltown

With the NBA Draft Lottery in the rear view mirror, Boston and Los Angeles are figuring out what to do with the first and second overall picks, respectively.

There was still some uncertainty as to if the Lakers were still going to have a choice in the draft, with the pick being top-three protected for a third straight season.

Thankfully for the Laker faithful, some good luck from newly appointed president of basketball operations Magic Johnson helped the Lakers not keep their pick, but improve their projected spot at No. 3 to land the second overall pick.

Top prospects include Markelle Fultz from the University of Washington and Lonzo Ball from UCLA.

Almost a decade has passed since the Lakers’ feelings of elation–and conversely the Celtics’ perturbation–and while the Celtics has had some success since 2010, including this season, it seemed as though the memories of the late 2000s, ’80s, and ’60s rivalry were much more prevalent in our minds, rather than a rivalry that could renewed in present NBA.

Since 2010, the Lakers have struggled to be formidable, with playoff stints from 2011-13 all ending in defeat, dealing with underwhelming performances from an exhausted Lakers core — the outcome of multiple runs at consecutive Finals appearances and the decline of play from aging superstar Kobe Bryant.

For the Celtics, the seasons following their defeat to the Lakers ushered them into the beginning of the end for the dubbed “Boston Three Party” which included Los Angeles native Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett.

A final stint for the trio came during the 2012 playoffs, with the Celtics making it to the Eastern Conference Finals, pushing the Miami Heat to seven games, but eventually losing. The following year, Ray Allen chose to sign with Miami for less money than the Celtics were going to pay.

Doc Rivers, then head coach, was allowed out of his contract the following year, and bolted for LA to coach the Clippers.

With the “Big Three” disbanding, including the departure of coach Rivers, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett were moved in a major offseason trade, sending them to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a handful of players, and three future first-round draft picks.

Charles Curtis of For The Win mentions the specifics of that trade. Those picks? First-rounders in 2014, 2016 and 2018, plus the right to swap picks with the Nets in 2015 and 2017, leading the Celtics to nab the first overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

Although the Lakers and Celtics are currently on opposite ends of the spectrum, they are not far off from possibly meeting each other within the next five years.

Yes, for the rivalry to be renewed, they would have to meet each other in the NBA Finals and from judging from what the Lakers have done within the past five seasons, that idea seems far-fetched. But how about looking at this proposition with a half-glass-full type mentality.

The 2017-18 season will be the third straight year the Lakers’ core has played together and second year removed from the Kobe farewell tour. Many believed Bryant may have stunted the growth of the young nucleus.

Players such as Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance have had more time to mesh on court with Kobe out of the picture, and the addition of Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac has added more youth and depth to a potential rising squad.

Ideally, the hope for the outcome of these once draftees are to mirror the success of such organizations who have built up through the NBA Draft, a la the Oklahoma City Thunder’s development of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden or the Golden State Warrior teams that has groomed the likes of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka and Johnson have been extremely optimistic in their approach to bringing the Lakers back to championship contention.

With a potential franchise altering pick looming in this year’s NBA Draft, and a developing young core, Magic Johnson believes the Lakers are leaning toward becoming that once desirable destination for free agents.

The Lakers have had four straight years of incompetence and although there has been a consistent trend of losing, including last year’s 26-56 record, that is still nine wins better than the previous year.

Coach Luke Walton’s approach to the game surely favors the young core, and may pay dividends, especially with their second pick still in their midst.

If the Lakers are able to show a considerable amount of progression, it will make potential free agents like Paul George or Gordon Hayward to reconsider their future.

The road to at least becoming a playoff contender could be within reach a lot sooner, not unlike the speedy success of their arch-enemy’s current roster.

To keep or not to keep

Whether the Celtics draft a top projected collegiate player or flip the top overall pick for a star such as Jimmy Butler or Paul George is still unknown. Before the hoopla of the lottery, the current Celtics’ roster has already become successful in its own right.

Led by the arrival of a superstar in Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics’ team includes a good mixture of effective role players, spearheaded by a calm but competitive coach in Brad Stevens.

It’s evident from this year’s playoffs that everyone is just waiting for the inevitable — the rubber match in the Finals between the Cavs and Warriors, which will begin Thursday in Oakland.

The first-round matchups in both the Western and Eastern conferences were undeniably unwatchable, and while the Harden vs. Westbrook clash was an interesting side show, the likes of matchups between Toronto and Milwaukee or the Clippers and Jazz were served, at best, like cheap hors d’oeuvres.

You could probably find a history between any two teams in the NBA, and try to spin it to find significance, but even if you did, there’s no rivalry that could compare to in the NBA, let alone professional sports.

The Celtics and Lakers have played each other in the NBA Finals in three different eras — six times in the 1960s, three times in the 1980s, and twice in the late 2000s,

Names like Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain dominated the NBA in the late ‘60s. During the 80’s, it was Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy.

And of course, most recently, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were the headliners.

These moments in time are immortalized. There’s just too much history here. Even the rivalry between Magic and Bird became much more than basketball, and ended up being culturally significant and a moment that helped transform the NBA.

Until Larry Bird had resigned from the Indiana Pacers as president of basketball operations, it was quite possible that he and Magic Johnson would have crossed paths once again.

Indiana superstar Paul George has long been a topic of conversation and has reportedly spoke out about his future not in a Pacers uniform, with the basketball world wondering if Bird should have dealt George to his rumored destination of choice before possibly losing him to free agency.

George’s rumored preferred choice? The Los Angeles Lakers — of which Magic Johnson oversees all basketball ops.

The NBA needs this rivalry

The Lakers have won three of the last five meetings in the Finals against the Celtics, with seven years passing since 2010. If they meet in the Finals within the next couple of years, their projected renewal of rivalry would be ahead of schedule.

More from Lake Show Life

The NBA doesn’t need parity to maintain steady viewership, but undoubtedly needs a shake up. Yes, the past two NBA Finals have been must-see-TV for the avid or casual basketball fan.

The battles between the Steph Curry and LeBron James-led teams, for some, could be likened to a clash between good and evil (depending on which side of the fence you’re on) or David and Goliath (depending on which way you look at it), but Commissioner Adam Silver knows well that the NBA needs the Lakers and Celtics to do battle.

If the outcome of the NBA Draft Lottery is any indication for a jump in the right direction for both the Lakers and Celtics, we can hope that the ghosts of Lakers-Celtics rivalry past might whisper a bit more loudly and unearth much sooner than later.

The memory of Bryant chasing down the ball with seconds ticking away in Game 7 was the lasting image of a rivalry the NBA desperately needs.

David Stern, who previously held the title of NBA commissioner until 2014, was once asked what would be his dream NBA Finals, to which he slyly responded, “the Lakers vs. the Lakers.”

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Actually, another Celtics and Lakers meeting in the Finals would be more of a dream come true, and with these two juggernauts of history holding the first and second overall picks, that dream may come sooner than one would think.