Two Experts Explain The Lakers-Celtics Rivalry

An NBA Christmas Day special!

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Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

I hope wherever you are, you’ve successfully gotten out of holding the trash bag open in your matching J.Crew pajamas while various family members throw their wrapping paper into the bag, and half of it lands on the floor.

Christmas Day is known for a few things: Pretending you like a gift that you did not ask for from your Aunt Susan, getting in a fight with that one uncle who has decided not to vote in the upcoming election, and…sports!

The only NFL Christmas Day game I care about this year is the Las Vegas Raiders vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, but we already know why I care about that.

If you do care about NFL games, the New York Giants are set to play the Philadelphia Eagles at 4:30 pm ET, and the Baltimore Ravens are playing the San Francisco 49ers at 8:15 pm ET.

I feel like this is turning into one of those SEO-friendly stories that pops up around major holidays on Google when you search “New Year’s Eve” or something like that.

So let’s move on…

I’ll be watching the NBA Christmas Day games! That really just means one game in particular: The Los Angeles Lakers vs. The Boston Celtics.

The Lakers-Celtics rivalry is arguably the most famous in the league. They’ve met in the NBA Finals twelve times, and both teams are tied with the highest number of championships in the NBA (they each have 17).

My understanding of Boston is Blake Lively’s eye makeup in The Town, so you can imagine I am not the best person to discuss the Celtics.

Many of you know this already, but I always root for the Lakers.

That really just means I root for whoever is sitting court-side and try to identify them by constantly pausing the game and yelling out the names of actors from Netflix shows that get canceled after two seasons.

Because of these personal flaws, I chatted with both a Lakers expert and a Celtics expert to share a breakdown of the rivalry, what to know ahead of this game, and—of course—their favorite piece of team gossip.

Lakers expert Claire de Lune is an NBA journalist for The Guardian by day. By night, de Lune is a singer-songwriter who goes by Tiny Deaths. Casual!

On the Celtics side of things, I spoke with Derek Lawrence, a Massachusetts native and film and television journalist who writes for Vanity Fair, The Ringer, Vulture, and GQ, among others.

Both de Lune and Lawrence kindly answered all of my questions that you can yell back at that drunk uncle when he tries to mansplain the game to you in a matter of hours.

Enjoy!

An Interview With Lakers Expert Claire de Lune

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Be sure to follow de Lune on Twitter here and Instagram here.

For my readers who know *nothing* about basketball, can you provide a little insight into the Celtics x Lakers rivalry?
As far as NBA rivalries go, the Celtics and Lakers rivalry is probably the oldest standing one. It dates back to the *1959* NBA Finals, back when the Lakers were still in Minneapolis, MN (Land of 10,000 lakes if you were wondering about the name origin).

The rivalry probably is most famous for the Magic Johnson Lakers vs Larry Bird Celtics, but it's been a pretty consistent one to this day.

What has the Lakers season been like so far?
It's been a really interesting season so far because it feels—because of the in-season tournament—in some ways like an entire season has already come and gone, and it's only December.

I thought it would be interesting to see how the Lakers would bounce back from putting so much into winning something so early on, the sort of whiplash that comes with popping champagne and then having regular season games to attend to for 6 more months or whatever it is.

It definitely seems like it's been that way so far, but I assume they'll either bounce back eventually, make a trade, or both because the ceiling for this team is quite high.

I also found it interesting that this was really the first drama-free off-season in the Lakers world since Anthony Davis arrived.

They made some improvements (on paper, at least) on the fringes but maintained their core roster from their Cinderella run to the WCF [Western Conference Finals], and there was essentially no drama all summer long.

Everyone was healthy and in good spirits. In Lakers world, that's kind of wild to see; it's been such a rollercoaster ride for pretty much LeBron's whole tenure.

So I'm interested to see how they respond to the slog of the regular season, for many reasons. 

Going into this game, are there any Lakers players we should pay extra attention to?
As an unabashed big fan of LeBron James, I realize this opinion is a little biased, but I really do think it's just fundamentally incredible what he's doing in year 21.

Watching him perform at this level at almost 39 years old is absolutely unprecedented and is equivalent to watching a history book play out in real time.

I also think it's worth paying attention to some of the supporting cast.

Austin Reaves has been quietly phenomenal (is it possible to be phenomenal quietly?) of late and always gets up for games like this, and someone like Cam Reddish has really had his career revived this year by committing to the defensive end, so he's usually good for a really fun steal or block.

What has been your favorite off-the-court piece of information/gossip about the Lakers this season that you can't stop thinking about?
This isn't really gossipy because it's sort of serious in nature, but I've found it fascinating to watch how LeBron has responded to what happened to his son over the summer (most people know about this already, but for the uninformed, his oldest Bronny suffered cardiac arrest and has made a miraculous full recovery).

LeBron has obviously always been insanely dedicated to the game and played with a lot of joy, but in some ways, it feels like he's Benjamin Buttoned himself back to the LeBron of several years ago this year; he's just playing with a level of explosiveness and joie de vivre I haven't seen from him in a while, and I can't help but wonder if it's related to what he went through this summer.

Like, I realize this is corny, but I wonder if an experience like that makes you take things for granted less in a profound way, obviously his family but also his own life and even his time on the basketball court—I can imagine it would. 

What's your prediction for the game?
I think it'll be a close game. The Lakers have played really well at home. But the Celtics are one of the toughest matchups the Lakers have faced all season and have historically been a really tough matchup for them, so I truly don't know who will come out victorious.

Is there anything else you think my readers should know?
If they're reading your newsletter, I would imagine they already know this, but the league is truly the best it's ever been.

The entertainment product at the moment is just at an all-time high, and the talent levels are off the charts.

So I can genuinely say (my livelihood aside) that it's worth tuning into a random weekday game midseason, maybe more than ever.

An Interview With A Celtics Expert Derek Lawrence

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Be sure to follow Lawrence on Twitter here.

For my readers who know *nothing* about basketball, can you provide a little insight into the Celtics x Lakers rivalry?
I could refer them to the recently canceled HBO series Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, which I have a love-hate relationship. I hate it because they are firmly #TeamLakers and make Celtics God Larry Bird look like a country bumpkin, but I also love it because it prematurely ended with the Celtics beating the Lakers in the 1984 NBA Finals.

Like, a Lakers show signing off with the Celtics winning a championship over the Lakers should go down as another victory for us!

The Celtics and Lakers is easily one of the greatest rivalries in the history of sports, and there’s never been one bigger in the NBA, made all the more impressive given that the teams only meet twice a year, unless they find themselves both in the finals. And that’s a thing they do a lot.

If we’re counting the Lakers championships from when they were in Minneapolis (should we be though?), then they each have 17 NBA titles, having faced off in the finals on 12 different occasions, with the Celtics coming out on top in nine of those.

To be fair, the Lakers have won three of the last four. But the peak of the rivalry was the 1980s when Bird and Laker legend Magic Johnson helped raise the profile and popularity of the NBA.

Although, shoutout to Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant for reviving the Celtics-Lakers bad blood in 2008-2010.

What has the Celtics season been like so far?
On paper, it’s been great. As we speak, they are 20-6, the best record in the Eastern Conference, and yet, if you asked most Boston fans, you’d feel like they were 6-20.

I’m the type of Boston fan who recognizes that we’ve been extremely spoiled over the last decades, with the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics combining for 12 championships in the 21st century, but that has also made us greedy.

And there’s a lot of negativity amongst the fan base right now when it comes to the Celtics for a few reasons.

The first is that the Patriots and Red Sox currently stink, and so the Celtics are our one true hope. And then there’s the fact that the Celtics have advanced to at least the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the last seven years but have failed to seal the deal and win an NBA title.

Those first few times in the ECF [Eastern Conference Finals], the Celtics probably overachieved, and we were just happy to be there. That is not the case anymore, and unfortunately, there’s now concern that, despite the overwhelming success and skill, this team might not ever be able to get over the hump.

See, I told you, that sounds like a 6-20 fan, not a 20-6 fan!

Going into this game, are there any Celtics players we should pay extra attention to?
I’d argue the Celtics have the most talented squad in the league, so there are a lot of fun guys to watch, from their best player Jayson Tatum, to their deadeye shooter Payton Pritchard, who Drake recently joked looks like a “crypto scammer.”

But I want to give some love to two guys: one who is fairly viewed as the most underrated player in the NBA and one is often unfairly criticized as the most overpaid player.

As a Derek, I’m usually anti-guys who spell their name Derrick, but Derrick White is so damn good that I recently declared in the heat of a three-point barrage from him that I’m ready to name my firstborn after him.

Every fan should want a Derrick White on their team; just an extremely chill, calm, low-maintenance baller who lets his play speak for him.

On the other hand, Jaylen Brown signed a new contract this summer, which made him the highest-paid player in the league, and that keeps being held against him whenever he or the Celtics have a bad night. Is Jaylen perfect? No.

Do I wish he could dribble with his left hand? Sure do!

But he’s gotten better every single year and turned himself into one of the better players in the league.

What has been your favorite off-the-court piece of information/gossip about the Celtics this season that you can't stop thinking about?
Thankfully, there’s been a lot less gossip after last year might have been ruined by gossip.

For those not familiar, just days before the 2022 training camp was set to begin, our coach, Ime Udoka, was indefinitely suspended, with the Celtics not publicly sharing the exact reason.

The rumor mill kicked into high gear, and it turns out he had an inappropriate relationship with a female employee and made unwanted comments towards her.

This sports scandal also became a Hollywood scandal, considering Udoka was in a long-term relationship with the mother of his child, the queen Nia Long.

After leading the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first season, Udoka was suddenly out, thrusting young assistant Joe Mazzulla into the role of head coach, and let’s just say that many fans are not a fan of his coaching style and lack of affinity for timeouts.

So we’ve appreciated the quieter off-the-court situation this year, but the most fun development has been the blossoming bromance between Jaylen Brown and new addition Kristaps Porzingis.

The duo happen to live in the same building, and their chemistry has been off the charts, and they can’t stop gushing about each other.

Also, while he’s not the fresh NBA kid on the block anymore, nothing but respect for still the most beloved member of the Celtics family: the adorable and hilarious 6-year-old Deuce Tatum.

What's your prediction for the game?
The day off between the Clippers and Lakers games should mean the Celtics will be at full strength, as Porzingis and OG Al Horford have only been playing in one of the two games when the team plays on back-to-back nights.

And while the Celtics currently have a 6-6 record on the road and will be deep into this tough West Coast road trip, I think they will come out strong on Christmas and go up big on the Lakers, who we should mention are just 15-12.

Now, there is probably an equal chance that the Celtics hold onto that big lead or that they blow it late.

This therapy session has turned me back in the positive direction, so I’m going to say Celtics 118, Lakers 108.

But don’t worry Lakers fans; you still have that cute little in-season tournament banner to look at!

Is there anything else you think my readers should know?
Okay, for full transparency, I should confess that growing up, my first favorite athlete was Shaquille O’Neal, and so that meant when he left the Orlando Magic, I followed him.

Yes, I watched Steel. But I also rooted for Shaq and the Lakers.

Luckily for me, the rivalry was dormant at the time, and Shaq left the Lakers before it was reignited, so I got to fully commit to hating the Lakers ahead of the 2008 NBA Finals. And still, I don’t know if I’ll be allowed back in Massachusetts after admitting that.

Even now, I find it hard to truly hate on the current Lakers squad, especially because LeBron and I are will forever be tied together in history since I wrote the EW cover story featuring the first look at LeBron’s Space Jam movie (yeah, the one that had people outing themselves as being hot for the old Lola Bunny).

LeBron, I’ll always appreciate that 23 minutes we spent talking about Bugs Bunny, but some things are bigger than Space Jam, so #BeatLA.

What Paying Subscribers Got

Like many couples in the 21st century, Biles and Owens met on Raya in 2020. Cute!

You know what isn’t cute? Owens said on a podcast that he was the catch and not Biles…Hrmmmm…

There’s a lot to unpack here.

Biles and Owens appeared on The Pivot, where Owens said some…things…and I have some thoughts, let’s just put it that way.

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