I have been anxiously dreading this day for quite some time. Yes, the NBA season might have started on Wednesday with the Celtics spanking the Sixers and the Warriors being the Warriors, but the real NBA season starts tonight when the 2018-2019 LaKers take the floor with our new leader LeBron James.
It’s been a tough offseason for me as a a noted LeBron hater; I’ve written countless blogs on my hatred for LeBron. Although I’ve known this day was coming since about 2012, it’s still hard to accept. I’ve always said it won’t feel real until I see LeBron step on the court and clap his stupid chalk hands for a regular season game in a purple and gold Lakers jersey. And tonight I will finally come face to face with my fears.
What comes next is completely up in the air. The haters will say this team is laughable. The combination of LeBron, Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee, Lonzo Ball, and Michael Beasley will make for more terrible memes this year than wins–and I do acknowledge the haters may be correct. Even Charles Barkley, known Mensa member, is confused about what the Lakers are doing.
On paper I see no way this band of PMS’ing misfits can work together to bring the Lakers back to NBA glory. Truthfully I’m trying not to get my hopes up for this season. LeBron signing with the Lakers was setting up for 2019 free agency, and this should not be looked at as anything more than a building block year. But sue me for wanting to show a little something along the way.
The biggest question in tonight’s game is going to be team chemistry. We need to know quickly what lineups are going to work, who’s going to score when LeBron is on the bench, and if/when LeBron will emasculate my lord and savior Luke Walton.
Lakers fans deserve a new generation of Laker greats. The Mount Rushmore of Lakers is pretty much all set, but you can’t expect the millennial Lakers fans to put some respekt on Wilt, Kareem or even Magic’s name. I’m sure they know Magic more for his completely obvious tweets than his prolific passing skills. I can only wax poetic about Kobe for so long until Twitter suspends me for annoying everyone. We endured the sucking to get D’Angelo Russell, Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson and none of them are even on the team anymore. Lakers fans are itching as much as these guys after a USC frat party for Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball to turn things around.
As a Lakers fan (especially one living in Boston), my biggest sports nemesis has always been the Boston Celtics. It can be tough given that 99% of Celtics fans are also Patriots fans too, but I’m quite used to hating myself.
In case anyone forgot, the last time both the Celtics and the Lakers reached the NBA Finals was in 2010 when Boston could not, in fact, BEAT LA–well before Lamar Odom’s crack addiction was problematic. Wanna feel old? Just 8 years ago, the NBA gave rings to Andrew Bynum, Sasha Vujacic, Metta World Peace, DJ Mbenga, and current Lakers coach Luke Walton.
Since then, the Celtics “re-building” period has been much like another LA great, too short.
Although they haven’t made the NBA Finals since losing painfully to the Lakers in 2010, the Celtics have been competitive and “scrappy”, if you will. LeBron has singlehandedly prevented the Celtics from getting to the NBA Finals and eventually losing to the Warriors for the last 5 years. With LeBron out of the Eastern Conference, you can go ahead and pencil the Celtics into the Finals for the foreseeable future.
But if the NBA wants to make a shitload more money, and for some reason I believe they do, they need to rig it so the Lakers are back in the Finals. Maybe the LaBron’s can make it there on their own, but if they don’t, Adam Silver needs to set up a meeting with David Stern to get things in motion. David Stern owes it to us after what he did with the Chris Paul trade.
Everyone is unanimously just about sick of watching the Warriors win. Who would be THAT MAD if the refs continued to let LeBron flop 16 times a game so the Lakers can win? There’s no way Steph’s ankle will last a full season. And so what if Lance Stephenson started a Twitter beef with Kevin Durant to get in his head? That’s what we signed him for, right?
Let’s all be honest here, the NBA isn’t fun unless the rivalry between the Celtics and the Lakers is back. The Celtics vs the Sixers? SNOOZEFEST. Even Joel Embiid knows it.
Embiid says Sixers/Celtics is not a rivalry. Do you agree with him?#nba #philly #philadelphia #76ers #sixers #boston #celtics #philadelphia76ers #bostonceltics #joelembiid #joel #embiid #not #a #rivalry #what #do #you #think #basketball pic.twitter.com/r35MAYXx4b
— NBA Posts (@nbaredditposts) October 17, 2018
But the layers of rivalries that come with a Lakers vs. Celtics finals! It would be deeper than any Lakers Celtics battle yet. LeBron and the Celtics are a rivalry in itself. Rondo vs. the Celtics? LeBron vs. Kyrie? Here’s a live look at Adam Silver reading this blog:
You’re welcome for the idea.
In the meantime, I’ll be gearing up for the start of the Lakers season by watching 2x NBA champion and future Laker great work out shirtless. Here’s to hoping I can stay awake until 10:30. It’s going to be a looooong season.