No History Lesson Needed: Lakers, Celtics Understand Rivalry

Filed under: Celtics, Lakers, NBA Playoffs, NBA Finals

LOS ANGELES -- Before the 2008 NBA Finals, Brian Shaw tried to teach his players that the Los Angeles Lakers are supposed to hate the Boston Celtics.



Shaw, you see, could be called a professor on the subject. He's one of just 22 men in NBA history to have played for both the Celtics and the Lakers, and is in his sixth season as a Lakers assistant.



So how did "Hate the Celtics 101" go for Shaw on the eve of the 2008 Finals, when the teams were meeting for the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the first time in 21 years? Not too well.



Neither did the series. The Lakers lost 4-2 to the Celtics, including a humiliating 131-92 loss in Game 6. The night got even worse when Boston fans, celebrating the team's 17th title, pounded on the Lakers' bus and threw rocks at it.



So how much more do Lakers players know about the intensity of this rivalry now that the teams will meet for the second time in three years and for the 12th time since 1959?



"These guys on this team understand it now because that team was basically manhandled in 2008,'' Shaw said Wednesday on the eve of Thursday's Game 1 at Staples Center. "I understand why they didn't understand about the rivalry (in 2008) because a lot of them weren't born or weren't really following basketball. You'd be surprised at how many young players today don't really follow the history of the game. ... It's hard to generate that we're supposed to hate them and they're supposed to hate us when they missed it all from the beginning.''

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/06/03/no-history-lesson-needed-lakers-celtics-understand-rivalry/