Andrew Bynum, Kendrick Perkins and the Truth About NBA Titles

It didn't take long for the whispers to emerge that Kendrick Perkins' knee injury was the main reason the Boston Celtics lost the NBA championship to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Celtics' coach Doc Rivers started the flood of denial when he said his Boston team still hasn't had an opportunity to defend their championship of 2008 with the starting five from that season.

His statements were the first in a number of opinions which openly questioned the validity of the Lakers' 16th championship, and continues a trend of excuse-making which is found throughout the world of sports.

Injuries are just as much a part of basketball as any other aspect, and even though they have the potential to disrupt a team, this is not something which started with Perkins' injury in Game Six of the Finals.

Various teams have seen their title hopes dashed due to injuries at the most inopportune moments, and being a follower of the Lakers, I have seen my fair share.

A possible three-peat bid in 1989 was thrown off course because of injuries to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Byron Scott against the Detroit Pistons, and Andrew Bynum's injury in 2008 severely limited the Lakers' inside game.

Whenever Lakers' fans mention Bynum's injury in 2008, there is an opposing point of view which says Perkins' injury is an entirely different situation from Bynum's, and I agree.

Bynum was absent for the duration of the 2008 playoffs, and no one could have possibly imagined how bad the Celtics' would dominate the Lakers' big men in the post.

There is no doubt that Bynum would have been helpful against Boston with his size and strength, but the Lakers reached the Finals without Bynum, and his absence in the Lakers' loss can't be used as an excuse.

Perkins' injury could be viewed as more devastating because it occurred in the beginning of Game Six of the 2010 Finals, which just happened to be the first of two close-out opportunities for the Celtics in the series.

It was an unfortunate situation for the Celtics, and no one likes to see a player injured in that manner, but was Perkins' injury the reason for Boston's 22-point loss in Game Six, or their historically horrible shooting night from the field?

What about Game Seven?

Boston controlled the game for more than three quarters only to see the Lakers grab the game and the championship because of the Celtics' inability to find the basket for a five-minute span of the fourth quarter.

I could be wrong, but Perkins was not usually the first offensive option when the Celtics were in dire need of a basket, and to use his injury as an excuse is to deny what the Lakers had dealt with for the majority of the postseason.

Los Angeles entered the playoffs battered and bruised, and it was made worse when the oft-injured Bynum partially tore his meniscus against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.

The Lakers were forced to play the rest of the postseason under a cloud of uncertainty due to Bynum's injury, and in the Finals, he was visibly limited in his range of motions.

Bynum's 12-minute Game Five severely hampered the Lakers' post players and could be used as an excuse for the Celtics' dominance in that game, but that would be another case of grasping at straws.

The fact is, Boston capitalized on Bynum's injury in much the same manner the Lakers capitalized on Perkins', and it became more of a matter of strategy than anything else.

Making excuses is nothing new in the game of professional basketball, but it seems the Celtics have cornered the market in passing blame to explain losses in the NBA postseason.

In 2009, Paul Pierce said Kevin Garnett's injury was the reason Boston was unable to defend their championship of 2008. This season, Rivers decided to follow the example of his most outspoken player.

Or maybe it was just Rivers recalling past failures as a player, since he was a member of a New York Knicks team which famously lost a series in which they were ahead three games to two.

There were many reasons the Celtics could have chosen as to why they lost the series, such as rebounding, poor decisions in the clutch, and Ray Allen's inability to throw a rock in the ocean, but Perkins' injury is where they hang their hats.

To be honest, it's not surprising the Celtics and many other observers would take this line of thought, because it's much easier to explain your failures with excuses rather than just admitting you lost.