It's a Purple and Green World

June 2008

Like I've Been Saying all Along: It's a Purple and Green World

You know the results. You've read the books. You've seen the highlights.

You wonder if Kurt Rambis unconsciously reaches up and rubs his neck every time the replay of Kevin McHale clotheslining him is shown somewhere in the world.



But maybe you're late to this Celtics-Lakers party. Maybe there were real life things that got in the way and prevented you from paying attention. Maybe one of those things is the fact you weren't even born yet when last the NBA team in the upper right corner of the map met the one from the lower left corner.

You can study the history all you wish, but here are a few moments that define the rivalry - some of them well-chronicled, others not so much.

To begin with, you need to accept that Celtics-Lakers is not just another NBA Finals. Not to be parochial or arrogant about it, but the weight of these two teams on their own and those brilliant occasions when they've met to decide a title make it more than that.

Hey, I watched intently as the Heat and Mavericks went at it. I missed nary a dribble when the Spurs were clubbing the Cavaliers. This is different. Trust me.

Celtics-Lakers is Frank Selvy's missed jump shot at the end of Game 7 regulation in 1962. It is Jerry West's nausea at the mention of Green and Lakers owner Jack Kent Cooke's balloons remaining pinned to the ceiling in The Fabulous Forum in 1969.

Celtics-Lakers is Gerald Henderson's steal, Don Nelson's foul line jumper taking the scenic route on its way to the strings and Larry Bird hitting shot after shot while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar drank in oxygen in the sauna that was the old Garden. It is the Memorial Day Massacre and Magic's baby hook.

Celtics-Lakers is 16 of the top 50 players from the league's first 50 years participating in at least one of the 10 Finals meetings. It is half of the top 10 coaches from that period leading one of the two teams at some point.

Celtics-Lakers is Boston winning the first eight Finals meetings between the clubs and Los Angeles taking the last two. It is LA breaking through in 1985 and Kareem saying it felt like when the Brooklyn Dodgers finally conquered the Yankees in the 1955 World Series.

Celtics-Lakers is a passion in the 1980s that remains unrivaled in this sport. It is Lakers fans rocking the Celtics' van as it exited the Forum tunnel on its way back to the hotel. It is Jack Nicholson trading the choke sign with fans in the Garden. It is the Rambis Youth meeting the Celts at LAX . . . obviously before the terrorist guidelines were in place.

Celtics-Lakers is - and we know we've mentioned this before, but it's still a favorite - Bird getting ready for a regular-season game in LA and singing to himself, ``We're playin' the Lakers, we're playin' the Lakers.''

Celtics-Lakers is two sold-out preseason games in The Forum in October 1985. It is newly acquired Lakers enforcer Maurice Lucas getting into a fight in the first half.

Celtics-Lakers is McHale playing the 1987 Finals on a broken foot and staying as tight-lipped as he could though the effect on his game was obvious. It is the Celts gallantly pushing the series back to California for Game 6 and getting wiped out there. It is McHale coming to the back of the commercial red-eye flight a few hours in and confessing how bad it had been to play under the circumstances.

Celtics-Lakers is waiting 21 years for a Finals renewal.

Celtics-Lakers is simply one of the best reasons just to watch this game. And it doesn't matter so much the cities they represent, though undoubtedly the contrasts will be made in these next days and we'll all have some fun (anybody got a spare dude-to-English dictionary?).

When Celtics-Lakers comes this late in the season, it's about two teams with great players pushed to their limits and beyond.

While it'll be cool to hear the fans of both clubs screaming so loudly that noise complaints will be registered in Kansas, the bottom-line reason for tuning in isn't just to hope the team you follow wins. It's to see elite athletes forced by necessity and sheer will to perform even greater feats. It's about limits being redefined.

And if this series manages to scratch the pages of the past, well, then it's just about as good as it gets.