Celtics vs Lakers Rivalry is What the NBA is Missing

It was in the 1950's that the Celtics and Lakers rivalry took shape. The Celtics, who were founded in 1946, took the league by storm when they hired Arnold "Red" Auerbach to coach the team. The Celtics then began to build the team around Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, and later K.C. Jones. The Celtics then won their first NBA Championship in 1957. The team would lose the following year in the NBA Finals, but won the following year. This started a string of eight consecutive NBA Championships, and the dynasty of the Celtics was born. Players like John Havlicek and Sam Jones would later play for the Celtics as they kept the dynasty going until 1969, when it ended temporarily.

During those eight years where the Celtics won all of those titles, the Lakers had met them six times in the NBA FInals. This began a heated and bitter rivalry between the two. At the time when they met in the NBA Finals in the late-1950's, the Lakers were playing in Minneapolis. The team then moved to Los Angeles in 1960. The Lakers had great teams in the 1950's that were led by Hall of Famers George Mikan, Jim Pollard, Slater Martin, and Verne Mikkelson. They were the league's first real dynasty as they won five championships in six years between 1949 and 1954. The Lakers then ran into the dynasty of the Celtics and would not win another title for 18 years.

The Lakers eventually rebuilded with Elgin Baylor and Jerry West leading the way. The rivalry then developed very into the premiere one in the league, and also sparked fan interest as well. Though the Celtics were the team that was alway on the winning end of things, this was the mark of big things to come in the NBA.

Both teams were forced to rebuild in the late-1960's into the 1970's with newer and younger talent. The Celtics rebuilt around new players Dave Cowens, Paul Silas, and JoJo White. After the team came up short in 1972 and 1973 of winning the NBA Championship, they won it in 1974. They would win another in 1976 before having to rebuild once again after losing Havlicek to retirement following the 1977 season. But the franchise would have two of the first eight picks in the 1978 NBA Draft to use in trying to get on track again.