The bottom line in terms of all this hatred nonsense is nothing but pure jealousy. Some teams have storied histories and some teams don’t. The teams that don’t wish they did and the teams that do ignore the ones who don’t. While many Lakers fans will be furious to hear it, the Boston Celtics are the only team in the NBA that should inspire some jealousy from the Lakers. Boston has more NBA Championships (17 to 15), and have beaten the Lakers in the Finals 9 times out of the 11 series. While Lakers fans argue that the Celtics aren’t able to maintain a consistent team, which is evident by their 20 NBA Finals appearances to the Lakers 30, the fact is they have more titles, which is all that matters in the end.
Why do you think Lakers fans hate the Celtics so much? The same reason Portland fans hate the Lakers. One team has something the other does not. When fans are characterized as haters, they should really just be referred to as jealous. They claim they hate a team with all their heart, and they probably do, but they would take that team’s accolades quicker than the Utah Jazz will put up a banner for a division title. In other sports it is the same thing, baseball fans hate the Yankees because they have more titles right now (27) than any other team will get as long as anybody reading this will be alive.
So as a fan of the Lakers it should actually be an honor that so many teams hate yours so much. You should find it amusing that the Utah Jazz have a version of Randy Newman’s “I Love LA” that they contorted to say “We Beat LA” whenever they beat the Lakers at home. (That is true by the way, experienced it first hand. I was flabbergasted). When fans get completely giddy over beating your team in the regular season and act as if they just won the title even though the calendar says January 4th, you should do your best not to be completely annoyed. While it is obnoxious no doubt, it is also sort of flattering if you choose to look at it that way.
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