New School Rivalry

My first encounter with the National Basketball Association was, unfortunately, when Magic Johnson revealed that he had tested positive for HIV. My NBA world revolved around Michael Jordan and the Bulls, Shaquille O'Neal, and later the Toronto Raptors. Although I'm aware of the historic rivalry between the Lakers and the Celtics, I've never seen one of their historic match-ups.

But watching old games on ESPN Classic, seeing writers and journalists and other commentators talk about the match-up between East and West, white and black, Bird and Johnson, has made me feel that tension. It's a rivalry that echoes beyond just a simple sports rivalry and reflects societal values and issues. Like Glasgow Rangers and Celtic, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have a rivalry that resonates with people on a deeper cultural frequency and reverberates with economic, political, and racial tensions that define America.

The Celtics were white, with an old school game that focused on fundamentals and had a large following not just in Boston, but in rural middle America, thanks largely to the presence of "The Hick from French Lick, Indiana's own Larry Bird. The Lakers were flashy, urban, and black and under the leadership of Earvin "Magic" Johnson earned the nickname "The Showtime Lakers". Their clash of styles and personalities played out as a microcosm of the politics of the United States.

But today, America and the NBA are both very different. Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski recently wrote that this is exactly what David Stern needed to revitalize the embattled NBA - - an old school, big market rivalry after the disastrous draft that saw the top picks go to small markets like Seattle, Portland and Memphis. "Even a seething Stern couldn’t have conceived that a wayward lottery would’ve triggered the events that led to his sport’s wildest dream – the Los Angeles Lakers-Boston Celtics NBA Finals," Wojnarowski correctly focuses on the impact of big media markets getting the finals after the Tim Donaghy scandal, Kobe Bryant's temper tantrums, and the disaster of the New Ball.

But there's more to it then that. Ignoring all the controversy surrounding the NBA, this is an opportunity for the new stars of the league like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett to at last step out of the shadows of their predecessors like Michael Jordan and Bill Russell and make their own mark on the sport. Just like baseball's real turning point in the 20th century was when Roger Maris surpassed Babe Ruth, basketball needs its stars to step up and surpass the legends of yesterday.

Of course, with the Celtics jumping out to a two-nothing lead in the series, the surprise is who that superstar has turned out to be -- not reigning NBA MVP Kobe Bryant, but quiet Eastern Conference all-star Paul "The Truth" Pierce. Although only three teams have come back from such a deficit in the NBA Finals, there are still a lot of games to be played in this series, and a whole new generation of fans to impress.

Where the Lakers and Celtics of the 1970s and 1980s defined the NBA and served as a reflection of the social tensions of the time, this New School rivalry could not just serve as a reflection of new societal values, but a catalyst to help further change.