Red Sox-Yankees, UCLA-USC, Michigan-Ohio State, Duke-North Carolina. All storied rivalries with no shortage of historical moments or passionate, deep-seeded hatred. Because they’re all divisional or conference rivalries, these teams compete against one another every year but each team mentioned here rarely, if ever, gets the chance to play their most reviled rivals when the stakes are highest and championships are decided. That’s what makes the Lakers-Celtics match ups truly unique –the results carry the utmost significance and competition is always played at the highest level. And while the players constantly change, the fans remain the same. Lakers fans and Celtics fans are as compatible as Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag, Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, Jon and Kate Gosselin, Sandra Bullock and Jesse James… you get the point- they simply don’t like each other.
In case there isn’t enough resentment between Los Angeles and Boston already (thank you Paul Pierce for adding fuel to the fire), here’s something for Lakers fans and Celtics fans to debate over. What’s the more impressive feat? The fact that the Lakers have played for the NBA title in nearly half its seasons by earning 31 trip to the Finals in 64 possible chances, or that the Celtics have won the championship in 17 out of 20 attempts, a mind-blowing 85% in Boston’s favor. Let’s take a closer examination into these numbers to get a better sense of how these accomplishments stack up.
