Another year has passed, and one thing holds this NBA season from being complete. That one thing is the opportunity that every player of every team works for as hard as they can all year long. What am I talking about?
The NBA finals of course. Year after year, we see a champion crowned. Sometimes we see more of an underdog or an unexpected champion crowned, but most times, we see a team that is constantly dominant taking the crown, yet somehow, it never gets old.
This year, a classic rivalry will be renewed just two years after a great championship series. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics will get the chance to prove if they can get what they worked all year for, or if every victory and drop of sweat was wasted by choking in the finals.
In 2008, the Celtics did something that anyone with a common knowledge of basketball expected them to do: they went to the NBA finals and they won.
Along with the always dangerous Paul Pierce, Boston added forward Kevin Garnett, from the Minnesota Timberwolves and guard Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics (now the Oklahoma City Thunder). Along with the talented Rajon Rondo, the Celtics were expected to do nothing less than take a championship back to Boston.
Obviously, the variety of talent with Boston made them seem unstoppable, but when the championship series began, one of the few dominant teams in the NBA was blocking their way, trying to take the championship trophy home with them. This team was a team that has no lack of championships, and for good reason. This team is expected to reach the NBA finals just about every year. This team is the Los Angeles Lakers, led by the always dangerous Kobe Bryant.
The rivalry built up an abundance of hype, due to the legendary nature of the matchup, but ultimately ended in favor of the Boston Celtics. Despite the talent on the Lakers roster, the hype that was built up all year long for the Celtics proved to be too much.
Many things in this playoff series stood out, but one major occurrence had to be the injured Paul Pierce of the Celtics coming up big in the finals. The Celtics were able to take any doubts that people had about them, and crush them by defeating the Lakers.
Well, two years have passed since that memorable series, and since then the Lakers have gained another championship of their own.
Just a year after suffering defeat, they matched up with the Orlando Magic and took the trophy back to Los Angeles. But now, both these teams have new faces and old faces and will be fighting just as hard to win the NBA Championship. The Celtics have an almost identical roster, but Rajon Rondo has grown as a player more than anyone could believe in a year.
Luckily, the Lakers have an equal amount of talent. With Kobe's selfish play in the past and a defensive weapon in Ron Artest, this series should yet again prove to be one for the ages. Only time will tell if history will repeat itself or if the Lakers can change history by defeating "The Big 3," and the rest of the Boston Celtics.
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