The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers own the NBA’s oldest and perhaps greatest rivalry, dating back to the years when the Lakers had yet to move from Minnesota to Los Angeles. It was a rivalry that was so larger than life, it was instrumental in helping propel the league from being in danger of collapse in the late 1970s to the cultural behemoth it is today. And former Laker AC Green was as in the thick of that chapter of the rivalry, perhaps the most intense of all the eras of the Celtics-Lakers feud.
Green spoke to The Action Network’s Matt Moore about his time battling Boston for banners and the state of the rivalry today among much more in a wide-ranging interview. Some of the shine has come off that heated competition as the team shifts from being LeBron James’ ship to that of Luka Doncic, which irks Green a bit. “The Celtic games were always the one you wanted, the one you had to win,” said Green, citing a recent loss that saw LA looking lackluster. “It’s the one that you circled on your calendar.”
Advertisement
“When the season came out in July your question was, ‘When are we going to Boston, and when’s Boston coming to LA?’,” said the Laker legend. “It was just that type of a rivalry. You never worried about where you were, if you or the team were going to be ready because you knew that was going to be war.”
Undated: Forward Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics prepares to block an the shot of forward A.C. Green of the Los Angeles Lakers during the Celtics game versus the Celtics at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport
Green sees rivalries in the NBA more generally falling by the wayside in the league – and points to player movement as a factor. “You don’t keep your teams together long enough,” he explained.
“You can’t have a rivalry just based on Celtics banners. The banners don’t hate one another. It’s the individuals and their personalities that come along with it, but you’ve got to understand and realize what the culture is. And if you’re not there long enough in that system, then you’re just passing by. So you’re not going to have a chance to really develop a real rivalry. I think our modern-day guys and girls in their various sports can look back on college days. And this is pre-NIL and transfer portal where you have time that allows rivalries to be built and personalities, culture to be developed.”
“And if you don’t give it the time, then it’s just going to be another game. And then you’re going to hug it out. After the game and then go have breakfast, lunch or dinner, whatever it might be, with the guy you supposedly hate.”
Listen to “Havlicek Stole the Pod” on:
Advertisement
Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3
This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Lakers legend AC Greene on the state of the rivalry with the Celtics