Unfortunately, the Boston Celtics, arch-rivals of the Los Angeles Lakers, won their 18th championship this year. They took back their lead over L.A. with the most titles in NBA history, and now the purple and gold have to respond. A prominent figure at Game 5 was Paul Pierce, who shared plenty of battles with the Lakers.
Friday featured Boston’s parade to celebrate their latest Larry O’Brien Trophy, and Pierce was there, no surprise. Some jokes have been made that the Lakers have 18 titles as well because they won the inaugural In-Season Tournament this past season.
However, Pierce took time to criticize the Lakers for hanging up a banner saying that the Celtics will never hang one, should they win an NBA Cup, via Katie Morrison-O’Day of MassLiveSports:
“If we win the in season tournament, we’re not putting up a banner. Let the Lakers do that. We can make it into a carpet and put it in the hallway or something.” – Paul Pierce pic.twitter.com/E14Dn2C6uH
— Katie Morrison-O’Day (@KatieMo61) June 21, 2024
This is a fair jab as it remains to be seen how much weight an NBA Cup carries since this In-Season Tournament only has one trial run. But, it seems that this could become a staple similar to the Play-In Tournament, featuring some high-quality games before playoff basketball.
Nonetheless, L.A. will be remembered as the first team to win the In-Season Tournament, which adds to their lengthy history as a franchise. Hopefully, as time passes, Boston and L.A. can meet in the tournament final at some point to add a new wrinkle to their rivalry.
As with every champion, Boston now has a target on their back to prevent them from repeating. Competition will continue to rise as teams look to improve to take the Celtics down and prevent them from closing in on 20 titles.
Lamar Odom says feels ‘sick’ seeing Paul Pierce happy about Celtics potentially winning NBA title
Former Lakers championship forward Lamar Odom spent time going against Pierce during his tenure with L.A., but Odom was able to defeat Boston for his second championship in 2010. However, he admits that he feels ‘sick’ seeing Pierce happy about the Celtics possibly winning their 18th championship.
All things considered, the Lakers need to be empowered and eager to improve this summer, so they can enter the mix with the hopes of dethroning Boston from going back-to-back.
