The word “rival” is lost in the NBA today. Too often we see camaraderie between players on opposing teams. With the growing presence of AAU basketball, the players have gotten closer and closer.
AAU isn’t the only thing that brings the players together as one. The Olympic basketball experience has done it as well. Obviously when these guys are all on the same team, they must get along in some capacity, but the 2012 NBA champion Miami Heat were formed because of a rumored plan that was created during an Olympic run in 2008 by LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
The triumvirate in South Beach became the new trend in the NBA. Everyone had to form their own super team. You had stars like Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Amar’e Stoudemire planning similar moves of their own. Now we see them all playing with other superstars instead of against them.
The NBA, separate from the ABA, was founded in 1946, a time where grit and toughness were worshiped. The best players wanted to beat the snot out of the best players. They wanted to physically impose their will on an opposing team.
Even after the merger of the NBA and the ABA, the league was still a place of fierce competitiveness and rivalries. Now, in this new era of basketball post-Jordan, rivalries have come few and far between. We’ve seen glimpses here and there of rivalries that could have been. We’ve had the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards, the scrappy Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers, the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers, the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. We’re seeing something blossom between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Heat. We’ve even seen somewhat of a rebirth of the Celtics and the Lakers.
Now we’ve been given the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks (or if you go by last night’s crazy brawl, Boston and Brooklyn). Two teams, two boroughs, one city, a new beginning. Of course, this isn’t what we’ve seen from past rivalries. But it’s a start. Similar to the new “rivalry” between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Lakers, one franchise has something to prove to the other – the Lakers have been far more successful than the Clippers. But the Clippers have been extremely competitive and haven’t backed down from the Lakers one bit.
The Knicks and the Nets both have had moments in the past where each franchise has had success, but aside from a Finals appearance and a few playoff runs, the Nets really have no history. The Knicks have always owned New York and now the Nets are trying to rain on their parade. This could be the beginning of a beautiful rivalry.
With this in mind, let’s go back and pay homage to some of the greatest basketball rivalries of all time. The other potential rivalries have these kinds of standards to live up to. The top ten rivalries of all time showcased some of the greatest basketball ever played. It would be wrong to even compare them to what we have today.
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10. BOSTON CELTICS/LOS ANGELES LAKERS (2007-20010)
If anything, this rivalry is close to what we had back in the NBA’s best days. The Lakers and the Celtics would renew their rivalry many times by the end of the decade. It would be a treat for NBA fans all around the world to see.
The Celtics made the first move by acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. They paired the two with Paul Pierce to reincarnate the “Big Three” in Boston, and were poised to make another Finals run.
The Lakers saw this move and knew they had to take action if they wanted to keep Kobe Bryant happy. They made a midseason move for Pau Gasol about halfway through the 2007-2008 season. That propelled the Lakers back into the NBA Finals, where they played Boston in what was an epic series.
The Celtics won it 4-2, but you could tell that the fire was rekindled in the spirits of fans everywhere. I mean, this was classic stuff. The Celtics and the Lakers? It doesn’t get any better. You could argue that his rivalry is the greatest across all of pro sports.
They’d end up meeting in the Finals two out of three years, with each team winning one championship. In the 2009-2010 season, the series even stretched to seven games and really came down to a fourth quarter stand by the Lakers. It was the stuff of legends, and it proved to us that each of these franchises were back from their droughts.
9. MIAMI HEAT/BOSTON CELTICS (2010-present)
This is the most recent rivalry that’s featured in this post but it gives off the aura of “what used to be” in the NBA. These two teams have a genuine dislike for each other and that’s been seen since the Miami Heat acquired LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
The Celtics squad of Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett felt like the Heat had a sense of entitlement without ever actually winning anything. Of course, like everyone else, they were presumably ticked off at the party that was thrown in Miami before the group had even played together.
They opened the 2010 season playing against each other, and Boston got the best of Miami. They had something to prove. They wanted to show the NBA that they were still the best team in the East and that Miami was overrated. The first game of the season had a genuine playoff atmosphere with real nastiness on both sides.
These two teams would meet again in the playoffs in the Eastern Conference Semifinals where the Miami Heat would beat the Celtics 4-1. They dominated Boston in the series and showed that the regular season failures meant nothing. Miami celebrated taking Boston down as if they had actually won the NBA title – obviously adding more fuel to that fire.
The following year, the teams met up again in the Eastern Conference Finals in an epic seven-game series. If not for a legendary performance in Game 6 by LeBron James, the Heat may not be NBA champions. James had one of the best games of his career, dropping 45 points and snatching 15 rebounds.
The rivalry still lives on today as the Miami Heat signed Ray Allen away from the Boston Celtics. In the first game of the season, once again, there was real tension in the building. With no love lost between these two teams and plenty of season left to go, I expect this rivalry to keep getting better and better.
8. MIAMI HEAT/NEW YORK KNICKS (1997-2000)
This is one of the fiercest rivalries in NBA history that didn’t reach the Eastern Conference Finals. These two teams were two of the most physical and brutal in the NBA. When they played against each other you knew it was going to be a slugfest.
The funny thing is that it may have all been started by a move from Pat Riley. In 1995, Riley stepped down as the Knicks coach after failing to make it back to the NBA Finals. The move seemed rather abrupt because the consensus was that New York was a good team and had something going for them. The time to strike was perfect – Michael Jordan was out of the league. Why leave?
Suddenly, Riley was hired as the head coach of the Miami Heat. The Knicks had a problem with that and suggested the Heat may have tampered with Riley while he was still a Knick. Whatever the case may be, Riley was on the Heat, and that was the end of the story.
Every time these teams met in the playoffs there were bruises, blood and brawls, most notably the Game 5 fight between the two teams in which Charlie Ward was flipped over by P.J. Brown. Many from New York’s bench, including Allan Houston, Larry Johnson, Patrick Ewing and John Starks left the bench area and were suspended. The league punished the Knicks, and they’d wind up losing the series.
All in all, this was one of the rivalries that the NBA isn’t too proud of because of the ways in which things were handled. There was too much brutality and not enough basketball, but it was nonetheless always entertaining when they met.
7. SAN ANTONIO SPURS/PHOENIX SUNS (2003-2010)
There is definitely no love lost between these two teams. The last decade has been nothing but a battle between each of them and their respective players. No matter who was a new addition to the roster, if you were a Spur, you hated the Suns. If you were a Sun, you hated the Spurs. There was always a mutual respect between the teams but every rivalry needs a genuine dislike at some point. This one definitely had that.
It has always been said that Gregg Popovich‘s Spurs would intentionally position themselves in the playoff standings to play the Suns each time. I don’t believe that, mostly because the series were always some of the most brutal.
The Spurs were the more dominant team at the beginning of the decade (from 2003-2007), but towards the latter half, things became more competitive. The Suns were able to turnover their roster and have it cater to Steve Nash even more.
The angst and dislike between these two teams seemed to be immeasurable back then and it still is today. From Steve Nash’s gash in his face to Robert Horry to Amar’e Stoudemire’s dominance of Tim Duncan , all of their playoff series were epic and will go down in history as some of the greatest ever.
6. INDIANA PACERS/NEW YORK KNICKS (1993-2000)
This rivalry is probably one of the most exciting in NBA history. It seemed like every time these two teams would match up in the playoffs there would be a potentially game-winning moment. Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, and even Spike Lee are intertwined in this.
Some of the most historic moments in NBA history have happened when these two teams met in the postseason. When you think of this rivalry, you should automatically remember eight points in nine seconds, The Choke Game, Miller’s airball and Ewing’s putback – all of these moments will forever live in NBA history.
These two teams faced each other six times throughout the decade with each side splitting the overall series 3-3. Sometimes, their matchups decided who made the Finals. The Pacers managed to get there in 2000; the Knicks went in 1999 and 1994.
5. PHILADELPHIA 76ers/BOSTON CELTICS (1980s)
The 76ers had long been a contender since 1977 when they acquired Julius Irving. They were expected to be a champion for years to come, but Boston got in the way of that. In 1979, the Celtics had Larry Bird join the team after drafting his rights the year before. In Bird’s first season, Boston would lose to the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals, 4-1. Bird and the Celtics would come right back and beat the 76ers in the conference finals the next season and then go on to beat the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals.
The next season the 76ers acquired Moses Malone and defeated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals again for the second time in three years. They’d beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals for their second NBA championship.
The very next season the Celtics and the 76ers would meet again for what would be their fourth-straight square off in the Eastern Conference Finals. This time, the Celtics prevailed, splitting their decade series, 2-2.
To some, this is the best rivalry the NBA had to offer. People loved the grind and grit that both teams showcased. All of the series’ were tough – every game won and every point scored was earned.
4. DETROIT PISTONS/LOS ANGELES LAKERS (1988-1989)
These two teams would meet each other in back-to-back NBA Finals. There was obviously a lot of angst throughout both series. Not only were they the two best teams in the NBA but they showcased the two best point guards in the league as well. John Stockton hadn’t yet come into his own and Magic Johnson was considered the best player in the league.
The blue collar Detroit Pistons went up against the glamor and glitz of the Los Angeles Lakers. Two good friends in Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas went against each other for the most important trophy of them all. The Lakers were trying to keep what they had going and the Pistons were trying to start a new era in basketball.
This is where the famous “Phantom Foul” and Isiah Thomas’ famous Ankle Game were conceived. The Lakers would skid by the Pistons in seven games in 1988 but would be swept by the Pistons the very next season and that would be the end of the Magic Johnson championship era in Los Angeles.
3. CHICAGO BULLS/NEW YORK KNICKS (1989-1998)
The Knicks were always considered a team that drew the shortest straw in the Michael Jordan era of basketball. They just didn’t know how to get out of his way. They were an extremely talented team with John Starks and Patrick Ewing at the helm, but they were never enough to handle Jordan and Scottie Pippen when they were together.
In 1989, a sixth-seeded Bulls team upset the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals 4-2 with Michael Jordan finally coming into his own. This was the start of a rivalry that would eventually become commonplace in the Eastern Conference. These two teams were at each other’s necks constantly.
The Bulls would continuously roll through the New York Knicks to get to NBA championships. Each time the series and games would get more tense and testy, even to the point where there were near brawls on the floor. Hard fouls, player arguments, technical fouls. You name it and this rivalry had it.
After Jordan’s first retirement, the rivalry was sparked again when the Knicks defeated a Scottie Pippen-led Bulls team in the Eastern Conference Semifinals in 1993. Jordan would return in the spring of 1995, and had one of the greatest games in Madison Square Garden history when he dropped 55 on the Knicks.
2. CHICAGO BULLS/DETROIT PISTONS (1987-1991)
I’m sure by now you’ve already heard of The Jordan Rules. These were the rules crafted by Chuck Daly, the Pistons head coach, to minimize the impact that Michael Jordan had against the Pistons. They’d do their best to force him to his left and double-team him whenever possible. Most notably, every time Jordan hit the paint he’d be socked by any nearby Pistons player.
These rules are somewhat applied to players who dominate the ball now (zone up strong sides of the court/meeting drivers at the rim with multiple defenders). Of course not to the same extent physically, but those Detroit teams were well ahead of the game with their defensive strategy.
You know you have a rivalry on your hands when there is a distinct defensive style of play that is designed to stop one player. Through ball denial, double-teams and hard fouls, the Pistons clawed their way into two NBA championships in three years, beating the Bulls in the playoffs each time.
Michael Jordan was that one player that it took everything to stop. The rules worked from 1987 all the way until 1991. But we all know that you can’t deny Michael Jordan for very long. He would eventually break through and the Bulls would win their first title after sweeping Detroit in the 1991 NBA Playoffs.
1. LOS ANGELES LAKERS/BOSTON CELTICS (1959-1969, 1984-1988)
Ah, how refreshing. Finally, we get to the meat and potatoes of NBA rivalries: the Celtics and the Lakers, a rivalry that some say is the greatest in all of sports. These two teams have a long history and it continues to grow in every passing moment.
In 1959, a Bill Russell-led Celtics team would win what would be its first of 11 championships over the next decade and some change. In between that time, we saw a rivalry developing between Russell and Wilt Chamberlain. The two best players that the NBA had ever seen were playing against each other and that’s how it was meant to be.
Wilt didn’t always play for the Lakers, but when he did, that made it even better for Russell. The two giants embodied two different styles. Russell was all about the team succeeding. He was more concerned with winning championships than his individual success, even though he still put up huge numbers.
Wilt was a guy who wanted to stuff the stat sheet and break records every night. That’s something that he was famous for (see: NBA single game scoring record).
The Celtics and the Lakers faced each other in the Finals seven times in that decade. The Celtics won each of the seven times, making the rivalry ever so lopsided.
And again in 1984, Larry Bird’s Celtics defeated a Magic Johnson-led Lakers team. The rivalry between Larry and Magic had stemmed from their college days at Michigan State and Indiana State where they battled previously. They knew each other and had always been in each other’s way. This time Larry got the best of Magic.
Fast forward to the following year and Magic would bring the glory back to the Lakers by beating the Celtics in a rematch in the NBA Finals while winning the Finals MVP.
These two teams had a genuine dislike for each other and that dislike was fueled by the competitive nature of Johnson and Bird. They were also two teams who totally contrasted each other in style of play, style of coaching, and even race. In a time where race was a huge talking point for the younger generation, Magic and Larry were both idolized, and crossed racial lines quite easily.
Still, some of the public drew lines in the sand: if you were white, you should’ve been rooting for Larry and the Celtics. If you were black, you were supposed to be hoping for the Lakers to kick the Celtics behinds all over the floor.
The dislike between Magic and Bird began to simmer down when the two greats got to know each other through a commercial shoot. They found out that there were many similarities between them, though they both had contrasting personalities. This is one of the best rivalries of all time because of the great on-court product, and the relationship that eventually developed between the league’s two best players. These two legends put their differences aside and showed the world how to get along. They remained competitive on the basketball court and wanted to beat each other, but the mutual respect between the two was a genuine thing that made the rivalry the greatest of all time.
The Lakers would go on to win the decade series 2-1 after beating the Celtics in the 1987 Finals, but the friendship that Larry and Magic had developed would continue to live on even after Magic Johnson had come down with the HIV virus, forcing him to retire from the NBA. The two are still friends to this day and that’s what rivalries are truly about.
The competitive edge in the NBA today is probably a long way from where it once was. It’s definitely different. But we’re on our way to that period again. Hopefully the league’s new rivalries developing can entertain us just as much.
What’s your favorite rivalry in NBA history?
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