If You Ever Wanted to Meet My Brother...

This passage, from today's Wall Street Journal, could have been written by my brother, the die-hard Lakers fan.

Just as importantly, I detested the Boston Celtics. Before I had mastered fractions I knew all about the Lakers' unbearable tradition of losing to the Celtics. In 1984, as a second-grader, I cried after Boston beat L.A. in a grueling, seven-game championship series. The next year, I was at the Forum, the Lakers' faux-Roman arena, when Celtics guard Dennis Johnson nailed a jumper as time expired to win Game 4 of the NBA Finals. (A few days later, when the Lakers won the '85 championship in Boston, my brother and I nearly crushed my Dad – and our parents' bed – in celebration.) But the next year brought a double-whammy: I was in the stands as Ralph Sampson, the spindly 7-foot-4 center of the Houston Rockets, eliminated the Lakers from the playoffs with a miraculous, volleyball-style shot at the buzzer, and then watched the Celtics dismantle Houston for the title. It was a brutal summer.

During that era, I didn't just dislike the Celtics. My venom had layers. I couldn't stand Boston's plodding, physical style of play, which often stifled the Lakers' fast-break attack. I was annoyed that Tommy Heinsohn -- a former Celtic! -- was the color commentator for NBA games on CBS. And I despised -- deeply, truly, passionately -- every player on their roster: Kevin McHale and his Frankenstein shoulders; Greg Kite, a 6-foot-11 bruiser whose only apparent skill was fouling Kareem as hard as possible; and naturally Larry Bird, who was just so frustratingly good.

I loathed team president Red Auerbach and his victory cigars, but the Celtic who really made my blood boil was Danny Ainge. A whiny, wildly annoying shooting guard with a choirboy face, he constantly complained to the refs -- and had a penchant for making clutch three-pointers. He personified the Celtics' evil hoops empire.

Mr. Auerbach passed away in 2006, and the Forum is now owned by a church. I like the three best players on this year's Celtics roster -- Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen -- and I even saw Mr. Pierce play in high school.

There is still one villain from the good old days: Mr. Ainge, who's now Boston's general manager and executive director of basketball operations. I'm ready to hate him all over again.