Lakers vs Celtics

The West Coast vs East Coast rivalry heats up once again. Only this year it's special. A battle of the ages. Nostalgia at it's finest as Los Angeles plays Boston for the championship of the NBA.

As you can tell from the title of my post I am a Lakers fan. Or should I say I was a Laker fan. As a basketball loving youth, I loved the sport in the peak of its greatness. Sure there are purists who would say basketball was better with Wilt Chamberlain or Oscar Robinson. But anyone my age knows the true height of basketball greatness was in the 80’s. And the individuals responsible for that greatness was Ervin Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

There was something special with those games. Seeing Magic play with James Worthy, Michael Cooper, Byron Scott, and of course Kareem, was such a special combination. Something that I never thought I would see again, something that I probably will not see again. Of course they were matched by the Celtic lineup of Larry Bird, Robert Perish, Kevin McHale, Dennis Johnson and Danny Ainge. Thinking of those games takes me to a great time in my life as a young man. It was a time where my biggest worry was, who was going to win that game?

Now to fast forward 20 years and see the yellow and green playing again it’s terrific. Is it as good as it was back in the day? I think the level of play is probably much better than it was in the 80’s. Are the characters as endearing? Probably not. One thing that drives me crazy is the players and talking heads who are saying it’s not fair to compare this series to the series of the 80’s. To those people I say, if we don’t compare this years series is less entertaining. Kobe Bryant (no relation) is a dichotomous player. You either love him or you hate him. But even putting Kobe aside (along with his, he said she said Colorado romp) are the players as interesting and endearing as they were in the 80’s? With the creation of the X-box, Playstation, Tivo, ipod and cell phone, is basketball as popular as it was in the 80’s? Can the layman even name more than a few players on each team?

I had better ask my cousin Garret, because right now is his nostalgia. He is a boy who loves basketball. His favorite team? the Lakers. To him “this” is going to be the good old days. A simple time when the most important thing is, who will win this series.

This years series has been highly entertaining to watch. More so because of the rich history that exists between these two ball clubs. It doesn’t matter if Kobe finally wins one without Shaq, or if Kevin Garnett will finally win a ring. What matters to me, is that basketball is fun again. It’s fun to watch a great game, it’s fun to talk about, but most of all it’s fun to remember. Remember a terrific time in my youth that I will treasure all of my life.