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Author's Note: This will be the first of a six-part series focusing on a new feature/collaboration series of articles by Yvette and myself. We will look into the history and current state of this fantastic duel between the two cities from the courts of the NBA to the MLB diamonds.
With three articles, I'll delve into the Boston side of the rivalry.
Yvette will discuss and look into this great duel with some modern Los Angeles flavor with her three works.
Fans need not pick sides, but hey, that's what B/R is all about! Enjoy and debate! - Rob
The Red Sox versus the Angels.
The Lakers and Celtics meeting at the Staples Center.
The Kings clashing against the Bruins.
When it comes to the battle of the supremacy of two great sports cities, there's none other than Boston and Los Angeles.
For nearly fifty years, the NBA hardcourt has seen its share of epic battles between the Celtics and Lakers dynasty.
Facing off 11 times in the NBA Finals, which went by the moniker of World Championship Series until the 1985-'86 season, the C's have managed to capture nine of the highly contested all-time series.
From the LA teams of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain to the Boston teams with Bob Cousy and Bill Russel of the 1960s, these two titans have defined many moments in basketball history.
Meeting six times throughout the '60s, the Celtics and Lakers stretched their basketball wars to at least five times. Although Boston triumphed in each of those match-ups, their rivalry would intensify greatly in the 1980s.
Sure, those were the days of daisy-duke like shorts and the memorable fads of a transitional decade in America in the NBA.
But if you were to ask a hoops fan to name some of the most amazing championship finals of the sport's history, that individual may point out to the 1984, '85, and '87 series.
Diversity in all walks of life were finally making their way across the country, as the struggle that minorities faced at the time were at least getting some attention and respect at last.
Some of that was attributed by way of two legendary city rivals who traveled cross-country for the NBA title.
Almost any sports aficionado could name the faces and shakers who defined this basketball rivalry at its zenith point.
Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, and Magic Johnson were the faces and figures who defined these contests of the '80s.
The '84 WCS went to the limit of seven games, as each city fought tooth and nail in the previous contests that even got the fans involved in the action. With both teams trading the series advantage in nearly every game in this championship series 25 years ago, the question had to be this:
Who wanted the NBA title more?
The action on the court was hot as equally as the happenings in the stands.
After being pelted with a beer beverage by a Laker fan, Celtics guard dubbed the tense final between the two cities as an "all-out war."
Boston would get the last laugh in this amazing series, scoring a 111-102 victory over the Yellow and Purple at the "Gahden."
Fans, players, coaches, and personnel from both teams coped with the difficult conditions of the venerable Boston Garden that June, when the air-conditioning unit of the aging arena malfunctioned, causing all in the stadium to endure 95 degree plus heat.
Indiana's Larry Bird, who went by the moniker of "The Hick from French Lick," would go on to win that year's NBA WCS Most Valuable Player award. Surely, it was a one-up that Bird would give his college rival Johnson following that series.
1985 and '87 would paint different pictures and outcomes between the two cities.
The contests, competition, intensity, and tensions were still as heightened and fierce as in previous face-offs. Bird's duels with Johnson were as magnified as ever, and Boston fans continued to chant those famous verbal wishes to "Beat L.A.!"
In these last two Finals, the glory and title would finally go to Los Angeles. Jabar and Johnson would get their moment in the California sun, taking home their individual MVP honors in '85 and '87 respectively.
LA fans (and Boston fans, with some pain) would have to proclaim the '85 Finals as the most gratifying for the Lakers franchise. Sure, the Lakers won the championship on both occasions.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Los Angeles Lakers articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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