My first vivid recollection of being a Celtics fan was the 1974 NBA Finals against the Bucks. We won, with a 6'8 red head named Dave Cowens getting the better of a 7'2" basketball legend named Kareem.
Other than getting sick and tired of watching him hit sky-hooks from every angle on the floor, I held no ill-will against the Big Fella. I mean, we won and Kareem didn't. So why would Kareem bug me?
When Kareem later got traded to the Lakers, I actually thought it was pretty cool. My first valuable basketball card was Wilt Chamberlin in a Lakers uniform. So it seemed only fitting that the Ls get the next great big man too.
Nor did I really come to hate the Lakers once Magic joined them. No, I wasn't happy that his Spartans beat Larry's Sycamores' in the NCAA Finals, but, you know, Magic had more help and Michigan State had the better team.
Believe it or not, I even rooted for Magic in 1980. I was so ticked off that the Sixers beat the Cs to go to the Finals, I wanted anyone from the West to crush the Sixers, and that anyone became the Ls.
Something happened in 1982 Finals. I don't remember rooting for the Lakers against the Sixers that year, but I might have. However, by the 1983 Finals I clearly remember cheering on the Sixers to humiliate the Ls. And that is exactly what they did, sweeping them in four games.
It's not like me to forget key parts of my Celtic fanhood. But I can't quite place my finger on what happened between 1982 and 1983.
Or maybe I can.
By 1984 my older brother's love of the Los Angeles Lakers became more evident.
"Wait. Didn't you root for Golden State in 1975, Portland in 1977, and Seattle in 1979?" I asked my older brother.
"Yes," he responded.
"Well, then how can you claim to be a Lakers fan since the time they played in Minneapolis? It seems to me your favorite team is whomever comes out of the West?"
He's never given a satisfactory answer to those questions.
But I do know any chance I had for feeling any emotion but deep-seeded hatred for the Ls ended once it became clear he was a Laker fan.
I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say it was like having Pat Riley in the family. Red Auerbach was overrated, the Celtics won the 1984 title by failing to provide adequate ventilation or warm water in the visitors' locker-room. Yaddah, yaddah, yaddah.
Oddly enough, I don't quite hate these Lakers as much as I did the 1980s version.
Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that my older brother now lives in a different state.
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