The Golden Years

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers: the two most storied franchises in the history of professional basketball. During the 1960s, it was difficult for fans of the NBA to strike up a conversation without it eventually leading to the subject of Bill Russell, Jerry West, Bob Cousy or Elgin Baylor, a few of the biggest basketball names of all time. In a span of eight years, Russell's Celtics managed to defeat the Lakers in six NBA Finals match-ups, with three historic Game 7s and plenty of hostility between Boston and Los Angeles natives.

Russell's Celtics built themselves around defense and team basketball, with legendary coach Red Auerbach at the helm. With teammates such as Cousy, Sam Jones, KC Jones and Tommy Heinsohn, Russell had alongside him the most dominant team in the history of the NBA, and the many championship banners now hanging in TD Banknorth Garden are proof of that.

West, Baylor and their Laker teammates were worthy opponents for the near-unbeatable Celtics, and in 1968 the Lakers brought in their own super-center to counter Russell: the legendary Wilt Chamberlain. With the addition of Chamberlain, the Lakers brought themselves closer and closer to the Celtics, but never managing to overcome the Boston machine.

Yes, the 60s were the Golden Years for the Celtics and the Lakers. Both teams met in the finals nearly every year, and other teams in the league didn't come close to matching either in power or skill. In the 1980s, the rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson became one of the most historic duels between two individual players, and those years resulted in championships for each. But after Bird and Magic retired, those days seemed lost forever.

Until now.

When I read the headline stating that Jermaine O'Neal "would welcome" a trade to the Lakers, I couldn't help but think back to the Russell/West days. The Celtics already have their Russell in Kevin Garnett, and the Lakers have their West in Kobe Bryant. The addition of a force like Jermaine O'Neal to a mediocre Lakers team might just raise them up to a contending level, or at least turn them into a formidable team. For some, the O'Neal trade may seem like a run-in-the-mill blockbuster trade; for others, it's a glimpse of hope that the rivalry of the 1960s might get fired up again.