Two years ago, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals.
The Celtics had gone from the bottom of the league in the previous seasons to the top of the world, winning franchise rings for the team's Big Three, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.
Celtics general manager Danny Ainge was praised for bringing in Allen and Garnett that off-season from two mediocre franchises, the Seattle Super Sonics and the Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively.
Flash forward to game six of the 2008 Finals. The Celtics have just won their 17th championship, the most of all time. The Lakers and head coach Phil Jackson, who famously coached Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to six championship titles, hang their heads low in preparation for the long flight home from Boston to
Los Angeles.
As the Lakers' team bus sat outside Boston's TD Garden, waiting for a police escort that would eventually take 20 minutes to get there, Celtics fans began to boo and jeer at the losing team, going as far as to throw volleys of rocks at their vehicle.
Two years later, here they meet in the Finals once again. Those rocks and the bitter taste of a title lost are fresh in the Lakers' minds, and all signs point to the Black Mamba and his teammates thirsting for revenge.
Will they get it? The Lakers have the second most championship rings (15) next to the Celtics total of 17.
There's a lot of history between these two franchises. Going back two decades, we find the epic rivalry between Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson. Going back even further than that, we see the Bill Russell-powered original Celts against a classic Lakers squad led by Seattle U's own Elgin Baylor.
But history has no place in this series, at least not in these players' minds. All any of them wants is another championship.
In Kobe's case, his 5th ring would permanently separate him from Shaquille O'Neal's collection of four blings, simultaneously pulling him closer to Michael Jordan's elusive total of six.
The two teams we see here are very similar to the two who fought it to a six-game series two years ago. The Celtics starting lineup remains the same, with a few young guns off the bench for a late game punch. The Lakers' lone acquisition is defensive expert Ron Artest, who put away the Phoenix Suns in Western Conference Finals last week.
The Celtics are fighting their own age. Their three best players will all be older than 33 at the beginning of next season. Many speculate this could be near the end again for the franchise.
Kobe Bryant is fighting for immortality. Too bad he's on the wrong side of 30 and beginning to fade (just a little bit).
My pick? Lakers in seven.
Fernando may be reached at fsioson@su-spectator.com
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