Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics: Great Rivalry but Not the Best in Sports
When the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics meet in the NBA Finals for the 12th time it will be a reprisal of what some consider the best rivalry in all of sports.
However, I am not among those numbers.
Don't get me wrong, Lakers-Celtics is definitely the best rivalry in the NBA, but it lacks certain elements that prevent it from being THE best rivalry in all of sports.
Some of the most important factors to consider when dissecting a rivalry are fanbase, sustained success between the rival teams, proximity, competitive balance in head-to-head matchups, and the number of championships won.
The Lakers and Celtics meet most of my criteria and certainly constitute a legitimate rivalry, but sustained success between the teams and competitive balance are the areas in which this rivalry falters.
Prior to 2008, Boston had only qualified for the postseason three times since the 1992-1993 seasons, while the Lakers have only missed the playoffs twice in the entire history of their franchise.
The Celtics have a slight edge in championships won with 17 compared to the Lakers' 15, but when the two teams have squared off in the NBA Finals series Boston has prevailed in nine out of 11 meetings.
That type of margin doesn't speak too well for competitive balance, and to be honest, most of the glamour associated with the series only dates back to the 1980s when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird were the game's most dominant images.
Those years were the only time the rivalry was even competitive before 2008, and even though the regular season games hold a degree of interest, it's hard to get pumped up about two games sandwiched among 80 others.
The only other professional rivalry I feel is comparable to Lakers-Celtics is the rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball.
It may also be the most lopsided rivalry in all of sports because the Yankees have won 27 World Series rings compared to Boston's seven, and New York has been champions of the American League 40 times compared to 12 times for the Red Sox.
The fact that both teams are in the same division and compete against each other on a regular basis means familiarity is established, and it's easier to hate someone you know.
The relatively short distance between the Bronx and Boston also means larger numbers of fans probably call rival territory home, so mingling between rabid fanbases is more common.
The fervor of the fanbases is important in establishing a rivalry, and who has as many passionate, delusional, and outright crazy followers as the Yankees and Red Sox?
I would rate Yankees-Red Sox slightly above Lakers-Celtics, mostly because of the number of times the teams meet each season, but I would still place both below a little gathering which occurs in North Carolina twice a year.
The annual showdowns between the North Carolina Tarheels and Duke Blue Devils get my vote for greatest rivalry in all of sports, and this series has just as much firepower as the two mentioned above.
Only eight miles of road separate the two perennial college basketball powerhouses, and their rivalry has spawned enough blood to merit a full two-hour HBO show that documented the rivalry's history.
The fact that two schools in such a small part of a Southern state could gain such national recognition is impressive, but UNC and Duke have backed up the prestige with consistent, sustained excellence.
Each team has at least competed for a national championship in the 80s, 90s, and 2000s, and the programs have a total of 10 national championships between them.
Like the Yankees and Red Sox, UNC and Duke also play in the same division and conference, and their fanbases are bolstered by the energy associated with collegiate sports.
No professional sport can match the raw energy, passion, emotion, and atmosphere of a collegiate sporting event, and UNC-Duke captures all of those elements to the barest degree.
The state of North Carolina virtually shuts down when the teams meet, and the divisions run deep throughout the state, as each resident seemingly has drawn lines of loyalty in the dirt.
The rivalry has spread across the country as graduates have taken their loyalties with them, and the series is one of the most viewed each year, according to an ESPN poll.
An argument can be made for each of the rivalries listed, but I feel UNC-Duke captures every element of what a true rivalry is—and then some—because the product on the court usually matches the anticipation of the event.
The same cannot be said of the Yankees-Red Sox and Lakers-Celtics series because those affairs have been mostly one-sided, though this doesn't diminish the anxiety of the teams' fanbases when they meet.
Duke-UNC may be the nation's best sporting rivalry, but Lakers-Celtics will always be my favorite because it's an opportunity to watch the game I love played at the highest possible level of competition.
I grew up in the 80s, during the height of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, and the 12th revival of this matchup in the NBA Finals will take me back to a time when I first truly discovered my love for the game.
