I understand each of you probably joined our franchise with some of your own personal history with the purple. This is good. It will help get you in tune with the depth of our emotions.
My guess is that you also are familiar with the Celtics-Lakers rivalry of the 1980s. At different times, both of you have expressed a desire to make the new Garden a house of pain to opponents like the old Garden was in the past. This is good, too. It suggests that you understand the history underlying the franchise, and the Celtics franchise is nothing if not historical.
But please allow me to elaborate.
Let me begin with a brief overview.
Celtics fans hate the Lakers.
Pure and simple.
Every time the two teams play, the game represents a Battle for the Ages.
It started in 1960s when the Celtics played the Lakers for an NBA championship six times in eight years. Each time, the Celtics walked away with the bling. The Celtic family was proud of it's dominance, and the Lakers developed self-esteem issues, including an inferiority complex.
In short, we got in their heads.
In the 1980s the Celtics and Lakers renewed the rivalry, with the 1984 Finals presenting the battleground.
The Lakers opened the series with a 115-109 victory at the Boston Garden. In Game 2, the Lakers led 115-113 with 18 seconds left when Gerald Henderson stole a James Worthy pass to score a game tying layup. The Celtics went on to prevail in overtime, 124-121. In Game 3, the Lakers raced to an easy 137-104 victory as Magic Johnson dished out 21 assists.
After the game, Larry Bird said the Celtics played like "sissies," a clear attempt to light a fire under his teammates. Kevin McHale responded by clotheslining Kurt Rambis in Game 4, which the Celtics won in overtime. Before the game ended, James Worthy missed a key free throw that would have tied the game. Cornbread Maxwell got Worthy’s attention after the miss, and clutched his throat telling Worthy the Lakers were choking again.
The Celtics eventually won the championship, capturing games 5 and 7 at the fabled Boston Garden, which had no air-conditioning.
Pat Riley later blamed the series loss on the lack of air-conditioning, even though neither the Home nor Vistors locker room was so equipped.
In 1985 the Lakers finally managed to exorcise the ghosts that had been haunting them, winning the championship game on the parquet floor in Boston, 4 games to 2.
The first words spoken by Pat Riley after the win were “now they can’t mock us anymore.”
No one asked who "they" were.
The 1985 offseason began when Bill Walton called Jerry West, telling him that he wanted to play for the Lakers. “No thanks, Bill, I’ve seen your X-rays,” West said, referring to the 21 foot and ankle operations Mountain Man had undergone over the last 10 years.
Walton next called Red Auerbach, who, after consulting with Bird, brought Walton on board for the following season. The 1985-86 Celtics team is still considered by many observers to be the greatest basketball team of all time. On their way to 67 regular season wins, the Celtics crushed the Lakers twice, Walton playing a definitive role in both games.
The Lakers lost in 5 games to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, depriving the Celtics of the pleasure of beating the purple to win their 16th championship. At the time, several pundits opined that the Lakers had not given their best effort against the Rockets, knowing that humiliation at the hands of the Celtics awaited them in the Finals.
The 1986 offseason opened with a war of words. Walton reminded everyone that he gave the Lakers the first chance at signing him, while Laker guard Byron Scott responded by saying “Dr. Scholl (Walton) needs to spend more time worrying about his feet and less time worrying about the Lakers.”
As it turned out, Walton injured his foot while riding a stationary bike in August, which began a series of foot and ankle injuries that ended his career. Meanwhile, the Lakers acquired Mychal Thompson for basically nothing, and with the added depth the purple went on to win two more titles, but not before Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, and Robert Parish attempted to defend their 1986 championship, each one playing with a serious injury, McHale with a broken foot.
But this was not the end of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, nor the end of McHale’s role in it.
The Lakers spent most of the last 4 years offering just about anything and everything trying to and Kevin Garnett. This last summer Magic Johnson conceded that he thought they had "nabbed" The Ticket on two different occasions. When McHale traded him to Boston, Celtic fans were immediately reminded of what McHale said when he earlier had refused to trade Gugliotta to the Lakers.
“Believe it or not,” McHale said, “my job is not to hang more banners in Los Angeles.”
And this gets to the heart of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry.
The score right now is 16-14, Celtics.
After the Celtics last championship, the score was 16-9. Needless to say, the last five Laker championships have made us a little uncomfortable.
So we need you to treat tonight's game the same way the Celtics did during the 1985-86 season:
As the best vehicle for sending a message on the state of the health of the franchise.
We trust you'll do just that.
My guess is that you also are familiar with the Celtics-Lakers rivalry of the 1980s. At different times, both of you have expressed a desire to make the new Garden a house of pain to opponents like the old Garden was in the past. This is good, too. It suggests that you understand the history underlying the franchise, and the Celtics franchise is nothing if not historical.
But please allow me to elaborate.
Let me begin with a brief overview.
Celtics fans hate the Lakers.
Pure and simple.
Every time the two teams play, the game represents a Battle for the Ages.
It started in 1960s when the Celtics played the Lakers for an NBA championship six times in eight years. Each time, the Celtics walked away with the bling. The Celtic family was proud of it's dominance, and the Lakers developed self-esteem issues, including an inferiority complex.
In short, we got in their heads.
In the 1980s the Celtics and Lakers renewed the rivalry, with the 1984 Finals presenting the battleground.
The Lakers opened the series with a 115-109 victory at the Boston Garden. In Game 2, the Lakers led 115-113 with 18 seconds left when Gerald Henderson stole a James Worthy pass to score a game tying layup. The Celtics went on to prevail in overtime, 124-121. In Game 3, the Lakers raced to an easy 137-104 victory as Magic Johnson dished out 21 assists.
After the game, Larry Bird said the Celtics played like "sissies," a clear attempt to light a fire under his teammates. Kevin McHale responded by clotheslining Kurt Rambis in Game 4, which the Celtics won in overtime. Before the game ended, James Worthy missed a key free throw that would have tied the game. Cornbread Maxwell got Worthy’s attention after the miss, and clutched his throat telling Worthy the Lakers were choking again.
The Celtics eventually won the championship, capturing games 5 and 7 at the fabled Boston Garden, which had no air-conditioning.
Pat Riley later blamed the series loss on the lack of air-conditioning, even though neither the Home nor Vistors locker room was so equipped.
In 1985 the Lakers finally managed to exorcise the ghosts that had been haunting them, winning the championship game on the parquet floor in Boston, 4 games to 2.
The first words spoken by Pat Riley after the win were “now they can’t mock us anymore.”
No one asked who "they" were.
The 1985 offseason began when Bill Walton called Jerry West, telling him that he wanted to play for the Lakers. “No thanks, Bill, I’ve seen your X-rays,” West said, referring to the 21 foot and ankle operations Mountain Man had undergone over the last 10 years.
Walton next called Red Auerbach, who, after consulting with Bird, brought Walton on board for the following season. The 1985-86 Celtics team is still considered by many observers to be the greatest basketball team of all time. On their way to 67 regular season wins, the Celtics crushed the Lakers twice, Walton playing a definitive role in both games.
The Lakers lost in 5 games to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Finals, depriving the Celtics of the pleasure of beating the purple to win their 16th championship. At the time, several pundits opined that the Lakers had not given their best effort against the Rockets, knowing that humiliation at the hands of the Celtics awaited them in the Finals.
The 1986 offseason opened with a war of words. Walton reminded everyone that he gave the Lakers the first chance at signing him, while Laker guard Byron Scott responded by saying “Dr. Scholl (Walton) needs to spend more time worrying about his feet and less time worrying about the Lakers.”
As it turned out, Walton injured his foot while riding a stationary bike in August, which began a series of foot and ankle injuries that ended his career. Meanwhile, the Lakers acquired Mychal Thompson for basically nothing, and with the added depth the purple went on to win two more titles, but not before Kevin McHale, Larry Bird, and Robert Parish attempted to defend their 1986 championship, each one playing with a serious injury, McHale with a broken foot.
But this was not the end of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, nor the end of McHale’s role in it.
The Lakers spent most of the last 4 years offering just about anything and everything trying to and Kevin Garnett. This last summer Magic Johnson conceded that he thought they had "nabbed" The Ticket on two different occasions. When McHale traded him to Boston, Celtic fans were immediately reminded of what McHale said when he earlier had refused to trade Gugliotta to the Lakers.
“Believe it or not,” McHale said, “my job is not to hang more banners in Los Angeles.”
And this gets to the heart of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry.
The score right now is 16-14, Celtics.
After the Celtics last championship, the score was 16-9. Needless to say, the last five Laker championships have made us a little uncomfortable.
So we need you to treat tonight's game the same way the Celtics did during the 1985-86 season:
As the best vehicle for sending a message on the state of the health of the franchise.
We trust you'll do just that.
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