Celtics vs Lakers NBA Finals 2010 preview
The two most storied NBA franchises will go at it again this year as the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers square off in the NBA finals for the 12th time.
It will be the second time they meet in the finals in three seasons and with the Lakers being the current champions, the most heated rivalry in the NBA history might just reach boiling point.
Some of the players might not care about the historic rivalry between the franchises and what this series means to the fans. "I'm playing in it. I don't give a d**n about it," Kobe Bryant said. "That's for other people to get excited about. I get excited about winning." And don’t forget the Lakers will remember losing to the Celtics in 2008 and the Celtics won’t want to lose to the team they beat. That alone will give the series some extra spice regardless of whether the players care about the history or not.
One player that is in the middle of the rivalry is the Celtics’ Paul Pierce. Born and raised in Inglewood, LA, near the Lakers’ old home he knows exactly what the rivalry is about and winning a title as the Celtics' captain has made him public enemy number one.
"We've definitely got two franchises that never really liked each other because they were always playing for the ultimate prize. You can definitely sense that, and I already knew that growing up here," the 2008 NBA finals MVP said.
Whatever Bryant might be saying about the rivalry his head coach, Phil Jackson, understands the importance of the Celtics-Lakers finals.
"It seems like most of the '60s, the Lakers were playing the Celtics, and they were never able to get by them, that was a long and arduous period of time for these fans," Jackson said.
Don’t believe what Bryant says when he doesn’t care. He likes to win, sure, but beating the Celtics will be just that bit sweeter and considering that he could be the best Laker ever, not beating the Celtics in an NBA final would leave him behind players like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
In 2008 Boston had the big three, this year they will have the big four with the addition of Rajon Rondo, while the Lakers will send out Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom as their main guys. LA’s addition of Ron Artest does give them a credible fourth player, but Artest is a defensive specialist, while all of Boston’s big four can score - and so can the Celtics’ bench.
Either way the series is going to be a great one and it might just go the distance and with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson watching, the players will feel the pressure to perform. Gasol certainly wants to make the Lakers legends proud.
"It's a matchup that a lot of people want to see. The history is exciting, and there's a lot of - you could say hate - between the teams. Obviously it's motivating, but you still want to win the Finals and championship no matter who it's against. But obviously it will taste better, to be honest, than what we went through in 2008."
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