The primary goal of an NBA championship team coming into any NBA season is to win an NBA championship. The Lakers are well on their way to placing themselves in a great position to make their run for their 3rd straight championship. They are currently on pace to exceed last season’s win total and have been playing at a torrid pace by going 17-3 since the All Star break.
The light at the end of the tunnel is now getting bigger and brighter as the Lakers move towards it with focus and determination.
If you ask any Lakers player, they will likely say that they are only focused on the ultimate goal and things like who they match up with in the playoffs is irrelevant. That is the right answer but we all know it’s not true. There are certain match ups that they desire more than others from a competitive stand point or for personal reasons.
After the Lakers got run off the court by the Celtics in game 6 at Boston to clinch the 2008 NBA Championship, the moment stuck in the Lakers mind like a painful childhood memory. The Lakers had a vicious thirst for revenge that went un-quenched until 2010 when the Lakers got their payback by beating Boston in the Finals. The championship trophy won in 2010 was the same as the one they were awarded the year before when beating the Orlando Magic, but it meant a whole lot more to the Lakers because of their opponent and the memories of 2008 that had still haunted them till that day.
This year, there might not be a team like the 2010 Boston Celtics that have the Lakers players obsessed with enacting revenge, there are some match ups that stir up emotions and get their blood flowing more so than others. In most cases, the grudge is due to an individual player on a team that might have ruffled some feathers during the season. Lets take a look at some of these match ups that the Lakers wouldn’t mind running into and over in the playoffs.
Next: A mouth that won’t quit.
Dallas Mavericks: Jason Terry and Mark Cuban.
Late in that game, when the game was well out of reach frustration reached its tipping point in Terry and he decided to take it out on Steve Blake by pushing him in the back causing Blake to drop to the floor. Matt Barnes didn’t take kindly to Terry’s act and began jawing with Terry. In the end the two were separated, 5 players were ejected and Barnes earned a one game suspension.
Terry wasn’t done talking as in an interview with Colin Cowherd after the game he called Matt Barnes “The Charminator” because as he put it “That is a guy who is soft as Charmin toilet paper”.
Matt Barnes responded to Terry’s verbal shot via Twitter “Also another thing NO ONES worried bout wat Jason Terry is talkn bout everyone remembers the 07 season,” , “Me & the Golden St homies laid out the blueprint on how to beat Dallas.. “PUNK’EM” Aint #@?! changed homey.. So enough w/the small talk”
In this match up it wasn’t just the players exchanging insults as Phil Jackson and Mark Cuban have a long history of doing the same.
In January, Mark Cuban was quoted referring to Phil Jackson as “Jeanie Buss’ boy toy” in response to Phil stating his opinion on how the Caron Butler injury would hurt the Dallas Mavericks.
Recently, Phil Jackson ripped Cuban by stating “I know that Mark likes to prick the skin of people, but he’s not a player. He just sits behind the bench with his sun-tanned face and tries to make comments like that,”. Phil was responding to Cuban’s ribbing of Ron Artest and how he would welcome Ron having the ball more often in the Lakers’ offense. “Anything that puts the ball in Ron Artest’s hands is always a good thing,” said Cuban. He added “You can tell him that I’ll even take him out for ice cream. Of all the choices you have on that team, you want Ron Artest making the decisions in the triangle.”
The Lakers, especially Barnes and Phil Jackson, would love a chance to finally silence the outspoken Cuban and Terry for good. With all of scathing words being spit back and forth from both teams in the regular season, you can only imagine what would be said if the two meet up in the high stakes of a playoff match up. It would most certainly be entertaining to watch.
Next: Battle of the MVPs.
Chicago Bulls: Derrick Rose
In meeting up with the Bulls in the finals, Kobe and the Lakers would get a chance to invalidate the significance of the regular season award by stifling Rose and the Bulls on the biggest stage.
Rose has shown his worth by leading his team to the best record in the Eastern conference but it is quite another story to do the same against the best teams in the league for a pressure packed 7 game series that are presented in the playoffs.
Rose hasn’t experienced the playoffs outside of the first round or played as a favorite to win a series. Getting out of the East will be a tall task for a team being led by a 3rd year player, so if they can get to the Finals they will be facing a monumental task against the veteran laden 2 time defending champs (If the Lakers get there as well). The stage might prove to be too big for Rose and the Bulls.
It would be like taking your kid out of the kiddy pool, removing their floaters and throwing them in the ocean with strong currents expecting him to swim to shore. Rose and the Bulls will be placed in a similar situation and the Lakers would likely be the big wave to crash down and wash away the Bulls.
Next: Dethroning the King.
Miami Heat: LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.
However, getting the Heat in the spotlight of the NBA Finals where the media coverage around the world grows exponentially, it would provide yet another opportunity for LeBron to perform another immature and unprofessional act to further accelerate his fall from grace. It would fun for Laker fans to see the Lakers shovel a few more scoops of dirt on the grave of LeBron’s once marketable persona.
If you would like to see some good reasons to dislike LeBron, take a look at my December article that provides some pretty good reasons.
Outside of LeBron, a meeting with the Heat would provide an opportunity to show the basketball pundits that all but gave the Heat the title at the beginning of the year that it takes more than just three superstars and meshing them with any available warm body to form a championship team. The Lakers could prove that it takes time together building chemistry, commitment, respect and confidence in the coaching staff along with the right role players to win championships.
Next: Green with envy.
Boston Celtics: The rich history and Shaquille O’ Neal.
The Boston Celtics and the Lakers have met in the Finals 12 times with the Celts winning 9 of them.
The Boston Celtics beat the Lakers the first 8 times in the Finals until Magic and Kareem finally lifted the green curse by winning the 1985 NBA Finals over the Bird led Celtics.
The Boston Celtics bullied the Lakers in the 2008 Finals, highlighted by the series clinching game 6 where the Celtics demoralized the Lakers by beating them by 39 points.
The main parts of Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnet and Rajon Rondo are still on the squad so a meeting with the Celts will provide the Lakers with a much desired rubber match to decide the best team in these last 4 years.
The Lakers winning a championship against the Celtics would also provide the Celts a front row seat to their record of 17 championships being tied by the Lakers.
There is one more reason for the Lakers to want to face the Celtics in the Finals and it will be pretty hard to miss dressed in green.
The once beloved Laker Shaquille O’ Neal and now despised Boston Celtic will be front and center in this Finals match up. It is still unclear if Shaq will be healthy enough to suit for the guys in green but even if he can’t he will have a great seat to watch the confetti fall from the rafters if the Lakers can pull off the three peat.
This would be like having your ex girlfriend have to sit through your ridiculously extravagant wedding where you marry your super hot wife then have to listen to all the speeches at the reception proclaiming that she was the best thing that every happened to you. As uncomfortable and heartbreaking as that would be for your ex girlfriend, it would be equally excruciating for Shaq to have to watch up close Kobe raise that gold trophy over his head for the 3rd straight year without Shaq’s participation.
It’s been over 50 years since the Lakers and the Celtics first met up in the NBA Finals; even after half a decade a Lakers/Celtics match up is still the most coveted by NBA fans and for the aforementioned reasons, the most desired by this current Laker team.