If you had told me in the mid-1980’s that the Lost Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics were going to meet in four consecutive NBA Finals, I would have been more than happy to hear that. The 1986 Celtics are generally considered to be the greatest team in basketball history–with their Hall of Fame frontline of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish and Hall of Famer Bill Walton coming off the bench as their sixth man. And the ’87 Lakers are considered the 2nd greatest team of all time with their Hall of Fame trio of Magic Johnson, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
That matchup had everything sports fans love, legendary players, contrasting styles–with the Showtime Lakers looking to run and the half-court, grind-it-out Celtics trying to slow them down. Even the venues were great–with Hollywood stars that actually were Lakers fans (not the stars of the latest Disney movie or ABC television show) sitting courtside at the Fabulous Forum–and steamy, ancient Boston Garden with the parquet floor that produced strange bounces only for the visiting team and the “Beat LA!” chant echoing off the rafters holding the team’s dozens of NBA Championship banners. There was even a certain racial undertone as the “flashy African-Americans” battled the “gritty white guys”. It was the high point of NBA basketball–before Nike and Michael Jordan turned it into a giant marketing platform for shoes.
Actually, we got Lakers-Celtics three out of four years between 1984 and 1987, with Magic getting the better of Larry in 2 of the 3 series. But ask any fan from back then and they would have been happy to see those two teams play six or seven times because it was just that good.
Now fast-forward to today, as we get ready for the fourth consecutive matchup between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. I’m calling it the Rematch of the Rematch of the Rematch That Nobody Wanted. Yes, Golden State has a lot of guys that can shoot lights out–and LeBron James is a singular talent unmatched in league history–but we pretty much know how this one is going to end, again. Take away a choke job by Golden State–and a Steph Curry ankle injury–up three games to one two years ago–and the Warriors would be going for the Four-peat over LeBron and his cast of misfits and has-beens.
Sadly, ratings for this gross mismatch will be high enough to make the NBA think this is good for the league. But mostly, everyone will be tuning in to see if Golden State can make 50 3-pointers in one of the games–and if LeBron could match that by scoring 150-points all by himself while grabbing every rebound and passing himself the ball by bouncing it off the backboard. It’s a good thing that LeBron is a free agent after this series wraps up in four or five games–because his switch to another Eastern Conference team would at least guarantee he and some guys in different jerseys will take on Golden State in the 2019 Finals.
