The Best New Rivalries in the NBA

There is a need for new NBA rivalries to take hold of our imagination and make us turn on the TV.

For years, the greatest feud was the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, that enmity has been laid dormant, as both teams are relegated to rebuilding obscurity. On a scale of “No” to “Not Even Close” the chances of the two meeting in the Finals this year is an “LOL.”

Fear not, though. There are several new rivalries we can look at to entertain ourselves, and they're all in different stages of bloom.

Some are in their infancy, some are in the toddler stage and some are preteens, but they’ve all arisen within the last decade.

Some of them are individual rivalries. Some of them are team rivalries. Some of them are a mix. However they unfold, when these sides clash, everyone gets especially up for it.

In order to avoid repetition, I used each team or player only once. They are ranked here in order of seriousness. Some of them are fun rivalries, some are intense and one is becoming downright storied.

8. Toronto Raptors vs. Memphis Grizzlies

Danny Johnston/Associated Press

The Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies aren’t the biggest rivals in the league. Oh, sure, you can look back at the Grizzlies’ Canadian roots going back to Vancouver and come up with a good reason that it should be one, but that’s not why I have these two teams here.

No, these teams are the participants in the Rodney Dangerfield Rivalry.

South of the border, people forget that Toronto even exists. If we polled NBA fans, probably 30 percent would think it was in a European league. Yet, the Raptors are currently perched in the top spot of the Eastern Conference standings.

Memphis, meanwhile, has gotten no respect in spite of the fact that, according to Basketball-Reference.com, it’s been proving itself for years now. In fact, over the last five seasons, only the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls have won more games.

And, presently, the Grizzlies have the best record in the NBA, but Memphis is still best known for barbecue.

So I deem a rivalry necessary. If the two teams can get one going, maybe both teams can rise from the pits of obscurity! I think both games should be shown on national TV, and nothing but good things should be said about the participants.

And, oh yeah, any talk of LeBron James is banned. Announcers actually have to discuss the teams involved!

7. Gregg Popovich vs. the Sideline Reporter

There are three things today’s NBA sideline reporter is afraid of: death, an IRS audit and Gregg Popovich, and not necessarily in that order.

These interviews always go best when the dreaded midgame interview comes when the Spurs are losing. Salty Popovich is always more fun. His terrorizing of Craig Sager is famous, but any reporter is fair game for Pop.

Even TNT’s David Aldrigde, a seasoned veteran, dreads the moment, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com:

"

There is nothing -- nothing -- that I do or people that I interview that fill me with as much agita as getting ready to interview Pop at the end of the third quarter of a Spurs home game. "When San Antonio is on the road and I interview him at the end of the first [quarter], it's much easier. If the Spurs stink it up, it's obvious, as it is if they play well. But if they're at home ... good God.

The whole first half, halftime, [for] the whole third quarter, my stomach is churning. What are the patterns in the game? What is obvious? What isn't obvious? It's cringe-inducing. I have so much respect for him as a coach and I know it's imposing on him [and every other coach] to get them out of their thoughts [so they can] talk to me. Look, the guy has won four rings. There isn't anything I can ask that is going to get him to go, 'Damn, David, that's a really good question. I hadn't thought of that.'

"

Of course, if you’re not doing the actual interview, few things are as much fun to watch.

6. Joakim Noah vs. the City of Cleveland

I have a prediction: Joakim Noah will never move to Cleveland. Ever. For any reason. Because, why would anyone want to go there?

Noah first drew Cleveland’s ire in the 2010 postseason when he insulted the entire city on TNT, stating (per transcription of the YouTube video), “I don’t know about this place, man. I just stayed in my hotel room. Every time I look out my windows, it’s pretty depressing here man. It’s bad. It’s bad.”

The interviewer asked, “So you’re not going out?”

 “No. No going out in Cleveland, man. It’s all factories." Noah replied. 

Given the chance to recant, Noah queried, “You like it? You think Cleveland’s cool? I mean, I never heard anyone say I’m going to Cleveland on vacation. What’s so good about Cleveland?”

Noah then backed up his words by having some impressive performances in the first-round series between his Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He posted 25 points and 13 rebounds in Game 2 and scored 21 to go with 20 boards in Game 4.

Cleveland got the last laugh, though, as Noah’s Chicago Bulls were ousted by the Cavaliers in five games.

But Cleveland didn’t forget. To this day, arguably no athlete in sports is despised as much by an entire city as Noah is by Cleveland.

“The Mistake by the Lake” is a proud but sensitive city, and Noah trampled every raw nerve they have there. The degree of Cleveland's animosity is matched only by the apparent delight Noah has in annoying its citizenry.

5. Kobe Bryant vs. Dwight Howard

Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard are the newest NBA rivalry, and they really dislike each other. This stems back to the pair’s tenure as teammates with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Bryant and Howard are polar opposites on the personality spectrum. Howard is the type to eat cookies off his face. Bryant is the type to destroy you for even trying to take one of his cookies without asking.

Not surprisingly, the duo didn’t work out very well as a superstar pairing for the Lakers, in spite of the fact that the Lakers had given up their best asset, Andrew Bynum, to acquire him. They also gave up a 2017 first-round pick, Christian Eyenga and Josh McRoberts.

Howard, coming back early from back surgery, played one below-standard season with the Lakers before bolting for the Houston Rockets. Lakers loyalists said it was because Howard was afraid of the Los Angeles limelight.

Detractors said it was because nobody wants to play with Kobe Bryant, arguing that whenever things go right, Kobe gets all the credit, and whenever things go wrong, everyone else gets all the blame.

In a controversial article on the subject, Henry Abbot of ESPN.com even suggests that Bryant almost sabotaged any chance the Lakers had of retaining the superstar center:

"

As the Lakers' contingent settled into the conference room's ergonomic chairs, it was clear that two-time MVP point guard Steve Nash, in a nice crisp shirt, listening attentively, was running Kupchak's game plan. But Bryant showed up, according to a person in the room, in "hoops shorts, a T-shirt and a gold chain." He had also packed an attitude.

When Howard asked why his teammates let the injured center take all the flak when the Lakers' season went south, Nash said he didn't know that Howard had felt that way and that had he known, he would have acted differently. Bryant, on the other hand, offered a crash course in developing thick skin and a mini lecture on learning how to win. Sources told ESPN Insider Chris Broussard that Bryant's lecture was "a complete turnoff" for Howard.

"

Most recently, Howard and Bryant nearly came to fake-fisticuffs in their first head-to-head contest since their divorce. With the Lakers down 25, Bryant crowded Howard. Howard, trying to clear space, clipped Bryant in the jaw with his elbow.

And then they started jawing at each other, making threats and name calling 20 feet away with refs in between them.  While the danger of a fight wasn’t real, the animosity certainly was. And still is.

4. DeMarcus Cousins vs. Anthony Davis

If you’re looking for an individual rivalry of the future, look no further than DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, the two best young big men in the league today.

To date, Cousins has the edge in the head-to-head contests, averaging 22.4 points and 11.9 boards to Davis’ 17.6 and 7.9. Cousins also won the most recent contest scoring 22 and snaring 12 off the glass, beating Davis’ 14 and nine.

Cousins also has the 5-4 lead in terms of wins and losses.

This has the hallmarks of what makes for a great rivalry. Both players are stars of teams on the rise. They are two of the best young big men in the game today. And they actually are going to spend time guarding one another.

Another aspect is that Davis’ overall performance is better, but while he puts up better numbers typically, Cousins seems to have his number.

This could foretell a postseason future where Davis carries his New Orleans Pelicans to the playoffs but gets beaten out by the Sacramento Kings and Cousins on more than one occasion.

That might sound insane, but it was the case with Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. More recently it happened with LeBron James and Paul Pierce. Sometimes less great players just have greater players figured out. Cousins and the Brow could be the next such rivalry.

3. Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Clippers

Arash Markazi of ESPN wrote about the inception of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers feud last year:  

"

Rivalries are usually born in the playoffs, but the seeds of the competition between the Clippers and Warriors were planted last season, and grew into an undeniable feud before the Clippers defeated the Warriors 126-115 on Thursday.

Hours earlier, the Clippers decided to hold a separate pregame chapel from the Warriors, even though it is NBA custom for the home team to make one room available for players from both teams. Instead, the Warriors were given an earlier time than the Clippers.

"

Like, out of nowhere the Clippers essentially said, “We don’t even want to pray with you.” That’s not very ecumenical of them!

The season that began with two long-downtrodden teams vying for worship and respectability ended for the Warriors in Game 7 of the first-round series, in a 126-121 shootout.

This has everything you want in a rivalry: resentment, superstars like Stephen Curry and Chris Paul, in-state and in-division participants and electrifying plays highlighted by “Lob City” dunks by Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan for the Clippers or raining threes by the “Splash Brothers,” Curry and Klay Thompson.

This is truly must-watch TV.

2. Dallas Maverick vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks might be the great understated rivalry right now. Since 2010-11, the squads have squared off 23 times, including the postseason. Of those games, 17 were decided by single digits, 13 were decided by six or less and four were decided by one possession.

Four times the teams went into overtime.

And per the Shot Finder at Basketball-Reference, in the course of those games, on 20 occasions the shot clock was off when a basket was made to tie or take the lead in regular-season game. That happened six times during postseasons contests.

The Mavericks ousted the Thunder in the 2011 Western Conference Finals in five games. The Thunder exacted their revenge the following year with a sweep.

The rivalry also constitutes two of the most lethal assassins in the league in Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant. There are two things almost assured when these two squads face off: It will come down to the wire, and one of those guys will ultimately determine the winner.

If you’re looking for a thrilling finish, always count on these I-35 rivals to provide it.

1. LeBron James vs. the San Antonio Spurs

If it weren’t for LeBron James, the San Antonio Spurs would have an unblemished record in the NBA Finals. If it weren’t for the Spurs, James would be have just one loss instead of three. Is it any wonder that these two are currently the biggest rivalry?

Granted, it’s a little unique, as James has his on-again, off-again, WB-worthy love triangle with the Cavaliers and Miami Heat.

For James, it’s been about him with just the tiniest bit of very important help from Ray Allen. For the Spurs, it’s been about anyone and everyone—even the HVAC guy—getting in on the action.

The results in the Finals have fallen 2-1 in favor of the Spurs so far. James first fell to San Antonio when his Cavaliers were obliterated in four games in 2007. He exacted revenge with the Heat in 2013 when Allen’s miracle three sent the game into overtime and then to Game 7.

Then last year, the Spurs handed James the worst defeat in Finals history. They beat James so bad, you can argue he got knocked all the way back to Cleveland where he assembled a new “Big Three.” And there, the sinister King is plotting his revenge.

What will happen next? Only the postseason can reveal.