The Smartest Thing Ever Said by Charles Barkley About the Boston Celtics

Charles Barkley might be an over the top TV personality with brash commentary during half-time of prime time NBA games—but tonight he made a very profound point.

The opening montage of tonight’s Boston Celtics/New York Knicks game included a monologue saying how the Knicks and Celtics are rivals.

When the camera’s faded in, Ernie Johnson started off the show, but before the pregame got started Charles Barkley went right in with this exchange:

"

Charles: Ernie, do you mean to say that the Red Sox and the Yankees are rivals?

Ernie: The Celtics and the Knicks have been long ti-

Charles: That’s typical New Yorkers. Wanna interject themselves into everything. The Celtics are the Celtics. The Knicks haven’t won anything since 1972.

Ernie: They are still rivals.

Charles: Oh my God. (Turns away in disgust)

"

I have never agreed more with Mr. Barkley. The Knicks aren’t the Celtics rivals. They never have been.

If you want to talk rivals, it is obvious for any Celtics fan that the only longtime rival is the Lakers. If you want to increase the field you could probably include Cleveland and Miami due to the success of Lebron James at the same time as this Celtics' generation.

During the same time period, the Knicks biggest rival has been Isiah Thomas.  

Just because one team is from New York and the other is from Boston does not make them a rivalry. The Celtics are in another league than the Knicks. The history of the Celtics is one that can only be matched by the Lakers.

During a period where both the Celtics and the Knicks are competitive, their match ups will just be two good teams head-to-head, not a rivalry.

Proximity may fuel a rivalry, but it is not the only factor in determining one. In this case it doesn’t mean much.

They were not rivals in the 80’s when the Celtics were dominant, they were not rivals in the 90’s when Patrick Ewing owned Madison Square Garden, and they are not rivals now. Period.

Thank you, Charles. Thanks for recognizing history instead of media hype.