Celtics Versus Lakers Reloaded

It has finally come to this. Lakers versus Celtics for the NBA Championship.

Now, I know how young I am, but I feel like I’ve seen some good Finals match-ups in my short life of NBA spectatorship. Allen Iverson stunning the juggernaut Lakers in Game 1; Jordan versus Barkley; Patrick Ewing versus Hakeem Olajuwon; Jordan and the second-term Bulls versus Stockton and Malone (twice)…just to name a few.

Those were all great sagas, and they were well worth recording over my bother’s Karate Kid and Blood Sport VHS tapes. However, I think the Lakers vs. Celtics series carries something extra—something I can’t quite put my finger on. It feels…in a word… perfect. It’s as if this was the match up that not only the NBA needed, but also the one that NBA fans needed. One that validates the existence of the league and reminds everyone why we get so excited about it.

When I think about the culmination of this season up to this point, I get this rush of calm realization. Much like the epiphany and retrospective clarification that you get an hour and a half into an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

So many factors contribute to the perfect storm that is the 2008 NBA Finals. The storied, successful histories of both Boston and Los Angeles, first and foremost, give default significance to a post-season match-up between the two. The franchises with the most championships—the ones that bred Bill Russell, Larry Bird, and Red Auerbach, and Kareem, Wilt, Magic, and Jerry West—once again competing head-to-head for league supremacy.

The storybook seasons on both sides also add a lot of fuel to the fire. Evolving from Kobe’s off-season trade demands, to the development of Andrew Bynum, the acquisition of Pau Gasol, Kobe’s still-broken finger, all the way to the top spot in a hotly-contested West, the Lakers had a rodeo ride of a season and hit their stride in the playoffs. And by now, we’ve all heard of the off-season personnel upgrades in Boston, scooping up perennial all-stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Boston played better than any team all season and revived basketball fever in Bean Town (where the struggling Celtics of yesteryear stood out like a sore thumb against the backdrop of Red Sox championships and Patriots prowess).

Then there’s the never-ending story of Kobe Bryant. There isn’t enough space on this page for me to even scratch the surface of that anthology, but I’ll just give a Cliff’s notes version of the Official Companion to the Kobe Bryant Reader. Kobe has been like Dante and Virgil in the Divine Comedy (mainly just Inferno and Paradiso). And his struggle through the afterlife (post three-peat) has not only been on the NBA courts and scoreboards, but also in the eyes of NBA players and administrators, the eyes of sports fans, his own past and present teammates, and the hearts and minds of the public and media in general.

Kobe went from being the NBA’s Pegasus of sorts—being a great young player with a model off-the-court record, articulate and seemingly well-read demeanor, and pristine personality (a mythical creature that doesn’t actually exist in our day and age of NBA superstars). Then came the days of Kobe to flying too close to the Sun and burning his wings off (Icarus), followed by lately having to rise out his own ashes, like a Phoenix. I may or may not be the first to make this connection, but Kobe Bryant and Robert Downey Jr. have a lot in common, especially early this summer (career wise; I don’t know them personally).

With so much substance loaded behind this series, it’s destined to be one for the ages. Its universal appeal is sure to have everyone from non-Lakers fans, to non-Celtics fans, to Kobe haters, even non-basketball fans completely captivated and spellbound for the next couple weeks.

Game 1 tips off on Thursday in Boston; perfect for Lakers fans looking for a sweep ending in a home victory for Los Angeles.

Here’s to Los Angeles in Four.