Approximately 17,112 hours have passed since the Boston Celtics shredded the Los Angeles Lakers to bits, the 131-92 final score cemented in Celtic lore.
Exactly 713 days have gone by since Coach Phil Jackson and his staff watched an animated Paul Pierce celebrate with his Celtics teammates, a full five minutes before the final horn officially ended the series.
Nearly 24 months ago Kobe Bryant and his Lakers teammates were forced to sit by idly as a crowd of belligerent Bostonians pelted their team bus with rocks and insults.
Yes, it’s been two years since the Lakers lost in the NBA Finals to their arch-rival from Boston. Of course it seems like yesterday to anyone wearing purple and gold during that infamous June of 2008.
That Lakers-Celtics series exposed Los Angeles as a “soft” team unwilling to stand up to the bullies from Bean Town. This year’s matchup promises to be different, with the Lakers’ experience and newfound toughness playing a larger role in the rematch.
“You gotta be better,” Kobe Bryant explains. “You gotta be tougher. Gotta be stronger. You gotta execute better. That’s the mindset.”
That’s the mindset alright, and that sentiment is shared by an entire Lakers team with their sights set on revenge.
It’s only appropriate that Uma Thurman’s revenge-obsessed character in 2003’s Kill Bill series went by the code name Black Mamba, because ever since Kobe adopted that moniker he’s been on a personal quest for vengeance that rivals any in recent history.
It seems as if anyone who has every wronged Kobe Bryant, directly or indirectly, has lived to watch him rise to the top.
Shaquille O’Neal. Check.
Phoenix Suns. Check.
Boston Celtics… They’re up next.
Next: Learning from the past…
Of course as we learned in 2008, Kobe can’t do it by himself. Few remember that it was the Lakers, not the Celtics, who came into the 2008 NBA Finals favored to win. Regular season MVP Kobe Bryant was coming off a 39-point gem against San Antonio, brushing them aside with ease in the Conference Finals. It was a foregone conclusion that Kobe and Phil would capitalize on a seemingly over matched Celtics squad.
But when the ball was tossed up at center court in Game 1, Kobe and Co. ran into a green and white buzz saw. Celtics coach Tom Thibodeau implemented a now celebrated defensive scheme that held Kobe Bryant to a subpar 40% shooting, locking him up tighter than a pair of Chinese Finger Cuffs (Copyright: Kevin Smith).
Celtic brutes Kendrick Perkins and Kevin Garnett had made putty of Pau Gasol down low, effectively taking him out of the series with a brand of physical basketball the Lakers simply weren’t prepared for. After watching Boston push the Lakers around like they were George McFly for six games, the national media began to question LA’s “toughness”.
Next: Quest for redemption…
The Lakers spent most of the 2009 season searching for that toughness, looking for anything to distance themselves from their reputation as a “finesse” team. They pushed their way past Houston, Denver and Orlando to capture their first title since 2002, but something about the victory was missing. While the teams they faced were tough, they did not possess the same level of toughness as those pesky Boston Celtics. The Lakers, even as champions, would have to wait another season to avenge their 2008 Finals loss.
Wait no more, Lakers fans, the Celtics arrive in town on Thursday.
So the question becomes, are the Lakers tough enough to get past Boston?
Nobody will question the toughness of their leader, Kobe Bryant. Mr. Bryant has been playing since December with a broken index finger on his shooting hand. He had his knee drained a few weeks back, and since then he’s been nothing short of spectacular.
Finishing off the Suns with one dramatic jump shot after another, Kobe even took a second to pat Suns coach Alvin Gentry on the backside, as if to say “Better luck next time”. He simply wouldn’t let his team lose that series, and one could argue despite all his nagging injuries Kobe has never been better. He’s scoring with better efficiency than at any point in his career, and doing it with such ease that it would make Michael Jordan blush.
Speaking of MJ, I can’t let another paragraph go by without mentioning his recent Hanes commercials. You’ve seen these, right? An elegant MJ sits on a plane next to some keyed up dork that can’t stop talking about their mutual love for Hanes undershirts. MJ plays it cool, only briefly entertaining the dork’s antics.
That’s all fine and good. Not a bad idea for a commercial.
My only question is this: How in God’s name is it okay for Jordan to be rocking a Hitler mustache? I can’t be the only one to notice this, right? I’m sure it took “his people” an hour to convince MJ to take out the hoop earring, but they should never have let their man go on set sporting a wicked Hitler ‘stache. I think there is a rule somewhere that says that it is bad form to mimic the look of homicidal maniacs responsible for mass genocide. Call me crazy, but somebody’s losing their job over this, guaranteed.
Back to the Lakers.
Next: The Kobe Bryant factor…
Bryant is simply playing on a different level right now, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see this most recent tear is fueled by revenge.
Kobe sat by quietly all season as media types across the nation anointed 2010 “The Season of LeBron”. He didn’t say a word when he didn’t receive a single first place vote for NBA MVP. He let his play do his talking when the folks at TNT dismissed him as old and past his prime.
Then the playoffs really got started and Kobe has left a trail of blood only the Black Mamba could admire (Uma, that is). With OKC, Utah and Phoenix all in the rear view mirror, Kobe has the Boston Celtics right in his cross hairs. And don’t think he hasn’t been waiting two long years for another shot at the boys in green.
Bryant understands that his legacy is on the line. The Celtics embarrassed him in 2008. They are one of the few teams that can honestly say they “stopped” him in a playoff series. Kobe knows this, and he wants to change that perception.
Much like last year, when he had to win one without the Big Fella, Kobe knows what hangs in the balance of this series. He’s not the only one.
Next: Let the war begin…
When his team raised the Eastern Conference Trophy, Celtics coach Doc Rivers announced: “This starting five has never lost a playoff series.”
That’s a bold statement from Doc, and it lets outsiders inside the head of the Boston Celtics. They feel like an injury to Kevin Garnett deprived them of a chance to defend their title in 2009. They feel like the Lakers got off easy last year with the Orlando Magic. They feel like that title should have been theirs. It should be noted however, that if not for severe injuries to Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza in 2008 that NBA Finals series outcome may very well have been different as well.
The Lakers, on the other hand, have a score of their own to settle. They understand that this series will decide what team will be remembered as “The Team” of this era. The Lakers don’t want to be remembered as one and done champion, a team that snuck in to win a title when Boston wasn’t 100%. They want to be remembered as the team that controlled the era, a team for the ages.
This subplot makes a series already rampant with storylines even juicier, and no Hollywood story is complete without the theme of revenge.
Uma Thurman had it in Kill Bill had it.
So did Denzel in Man on Fire.
And let’s not forget old Liam Neeson in Taken.
It’s only a matter of time before we know if the 2010 NBA Finals will have it too.
They say revenge is a dish best served cold. Call it a hunch, but for Kobe Bryant and his Lakers teammates, I don’t think they give a damn how it’s served.
As long as they get it.