Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Who will you root for?

With all signs pointing to a Cavaliers-Lakers matchup in the NBA finals, I been thinking about where allegiances might lie here in Celtics Country.

Assuming all you Celtics fans are willing to concede that your team has no chance against Cleveland (even if they do get past the Magic), who are you rooting for in a Cavs-Lakers final?

I’ve heard a lot of anti-LeBron James sentiment around here, leading me to believe no one who bleeds green could root for the Cavs - especially after they knock out the Celtics. 

But then again, Celtics fans have hated L.A. for decades. So how could they, in good conscience, root for the Lakers? What about all those "Beat L.A." T-shirts that resurfaced last summer? Are you just going to cross out "Beat" and write in "Go"? 

Quite honestly, I don’t get all the LeBron hating. He’s got an amazing all-around game, and really stepped up his defense this season because he's clearly driven to win a championship now. 

Perhaps, when the rest of the country is glued to the television watching one of the more popular NBA finals in recent memory (yes, last year makes the list, too), Celtics fans will give it the Spurs-Pistons treatment. They won't care and won't watch.

8 comments:

Scott Barrett said...

This Celtics fan will be rooting for the Lakers, and I don't feel bad about it at all.

I simply don't like LeBron James for myriad reasons. Firstly, he's setting the city of Cleveland up for disappointment. He has two more shots to deliver that pathetic city a major sports title, and after that, he's gone. I don't care what he says publically, he's out of there, likely to the Knicks.

Secondly, he acts as though he's never been there before, jumping around like an idiot. I know he hasn't been there before, but the least you could do is act like you have.

You don't see Kobe jumping around like a moron when Sasha Vujacic dunks on someone, right?

Scott Barrett said...

Oh, and one more thing, what makes you think this is going to be watched nationwide? I know it's LeBron vs. Kobe, but Cleveland is far from a major market, and the last time they were in the finals (against the Spurs in 2007), there were terrible ratings.

L.A. will help the cause, but I don't see this as being a memorable finals matchup, especially after the Lakers win in five games.

SheilaM said...

So LeBron aside, do Celtics fans want to see a rekindling of the old Celts-Lakers rivalry? Or do they just think the Celts have a better chance against the Lakers than the Cavs?

Anonymous said...

Go Nuggets!

Anonymous said...

How can Barrett call himself a Celtics fan? Rooting for the Lakers is eqivalent to a Red Sox fan rooting for the Yankees. Shame on you, Barrett

Scott Barrett said...

I think it's apples and oranges. This isn't the 80s, when the Celtics and Lakers met every other year in the finals.

And I just loate LeBron James to the point where I couldn't root for him to win a championship. I never want him to win a title.

Anonymous said...

Interesting that Barrett embraces Kobe, an accused rapist, yet he loathes LeBron because he might hurt the feelings of the basketball fans in the "pathetic" city of Cleveland. Talk about apples and oranges!

Scott Barrett said...

All I can say is that there's no more focused player in the league. So while LeBron dances around to Kid and Play songs, Kobe is working toward a fourth championship.