I wanted to wait until it was official before I wrote about this, but now it is official. The NBA got its dream come true now that the Los Angeles Lakers will face off against the Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals. This marquis match-up could not have worked out any better for the league. While the Lakers won three titles in a row from 2000-2002, the Celtics have not even appeared in the NBA Finals since 1987.

This can't help but take me back to what I feel were the golden years of the NBA when the Celtics and Lakers seemed to be regular participants in the Finals. In the 80s, the Lakers appeared in the Finals eight of the ten years and won 5 titles. The Celtics appeared in the Finals five of the ten years and won 3 titles. The only other teams to win a NBA title during the 80s was Philadelphia (1983) and Detroit (1989).

I really loved the NBA in the 80s. The game seemed a little different back then. Part of the love came from the fact that my hometown Milwaukee Bucks were a perennial Eastern Conference contender back in the early 80s. For those of you who do not remember, the Bucks won an impressive 6 straight Central Division titles back then (1981-1986). Those teams were lead by some of my personal favorites including Sidney Moncrief, Marques Johnson, Bob Lanier, Terry Cummings, Ricky Pierce, Jack Sikma and Paul Pressey among others.

At the same time, I strongly disliked (bordering on hated) the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers back in the 80s. The reason for these strong sentiments was that those two teams stood in the way of the Bucks making it to the NBA Finals every season from 1980 until 1987. The Bucks were very good, but just never quite good enough to get past both of those two teams in the very competitive Eastern Conference. In the 1983 playoffs, the Bucks were able to get past Boston in the semi-finals, but then lost to Philadelphia in the Eastern Finals as they were on the way to win the NBA title that year. In both the 1984 and 1986 playoffs, the Bucks made it to the Eastern Finals again, but lost to Boston both times as the Celtics went on to win the NBA title both of those seasons. It was very frustrating, so I hope you can understand how that grows into loathing.

Now back to the subject of the Lakers and Celtics. When I think of those two teams, I immediately think about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Those two brilliant players were at the forefront of taking the NBA to next level. I was not a big Larry Bird fan due to the fact he played for the Celtics and I explained my feelings for the Celtics above. I did respect Bird as a player and I consider him one of the very best I have ever seen play the game. Magic Johnson, on the other hand, was one of my favorites and I feel he is one of the top 5 players ever. I could write an entire article on all of his accomplishments as well as my feelings on Magic as a playmaker and a leader. In fact, I might just do that some time.

Magic and Bird rescued and then personified the NBA in the 80s. Here is a link to a video on the two players which highlights their incredible abilities, their intense rivalry as well as their mutual respect for each other.

The rivalry began in college when Magic's Michigan State defeated Bird's Indiana State in the NCAA Championship game. They would go on to face each other directly in three NBA Finals with Bird's Celtics winning the first one (1984) and Magic's Lakers winning the last two (1985 & 1987).  They would even battle eachother in commercials like this one from Converse.  The last time these two teams met in the Finals was in 1987 and the Lakers won that series in six games. Game 4 of this series was won by Magic Johnson when he made a famous buzzer-beating hook shot. I remember watching that game like it was yesterday. Magic would go on to win the NBA Finals MVP and also won the League MVP that same year. Bird had won the League MVP the previous three years in a row.

Now 21 years later, these two iconic franchises will meet again. The cast of characters is obviously different this time, but also features some amazing superstars. Kobe Bryant leads the Lakers against the Celtics' big three (Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce). I really enjoy NBA playoff basketball and I am really looking forward to these two teams facing off. I am sure there will plenty of coverage discussing those amazing Lakers and Celtics teams from the 80s. I am sure to enjoy those memories and the attention paid to that amazing decade and those amazing players.

The NBA really hit the jack pot with this Finals match-up. The TV ratings should be quite impressive. There is much more history to this Lakers and Celtics rivalry than just the 80s and Magic vs. Bird. The Celtics were a dynasty back in the late 50s and all through the 60s winning 11 championships in a 13 year stretch. Six of those 11 championships were won by defeating the Lakers. Here is a link to another video which highlights some of the history leading up to this highly anticipated series. NBA Commissioner David Stern couldn't have written this story any better himself. I hope it lives up to the anticipation and hype.

That will wrap up this issue of Kickin' it Old School. I hope you enjoyed this stroll down memory lane. Thanks for reading. If you are looking for more of my 80s related articles, please click on this link. If you want to find any of my past articles, please be sure to click on the archive buttons in the upper left hand column and you will find them all there by month. If you know anyone else who would enjoy reading Kickin' it Old School, please forward them the link. Peace and much love.

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Download this: "Viva La Vida" by Coldplay - This song is from the new album of the same name set to be released on June 17^th, but this song is available to purchase now exclusively on iTunes.