The Boston Celtics are one win away from winning their 18th NBA championship, an accomplishment that would break the tie they currently hold with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most titles in league history.
This current group of Celtics is comprised of people who are relatively easy to like. Jayson Tatum considers late Lakers legend Kobe Bryant to be his mentor, while point guard Jrue Holiday, a key addition last summer, grew up in the Southland and went to the University of California, Los Angeles.
But a number of Lakers alumni are still seething at the mere thought of the men of green being on the verge of basketball’s grand prize.
Lamar Odom won two world championships with the Lakers in 2009 and 2010, the latter of which came against Boston. While he praised the growth of Tatum and co-star Jaylen Brown over the last few years, he will never forget the embarrassment that was Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals.
Via ESPN:
“[Jayson] Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown, as a professional, as an ex-NBA player, to see them kind of go through the process and make it to the Finals and get better every year as players, I’m happy for them as individuals,” Odom told ESPN. “But I’m a Laker at heart and in Game 6 they beat us pretty bad.
“And that’s when their fans surrounded our bus and wouldn’t let us leave. Shook our bus. That’s when I kind of was on a ‘F— Boston’ vengeance.”
The Celtics demolished the Lakers in Game 6 that year by 39 points, and Paul Pierce was the MVP of that championship series. Odom dislikes the fact that the Hall of Fame forward is delighted about his former team closing in on the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“I know Paul Pierce is happy and it kind of makes me sick to see him gloat and be that happy because that team is about to win,” Odom said. “They were the best team that year [in 2008]. I tip my hat to ’em, even this year, but it kind of makes me sick.”
The Dallas Mavericks, Boston’s opponent in this year’s finals, did win Game 4 on Friday to stay alive. However, Game 5 will be in Beantown, and the crowd there is sure to be juiced up with the anticipation of its team winning it all right then and there.