The Showtime era of the Los Angeles Lakers saw the birth of their immortal rivalry with the Boston Celtics. The two teams not only dominated the league at that time but fought tooth and nail for NBA glory.
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Two legends of that era, Byron Scott and Michael Cooper, sat down for a conversation about 80s basketball on the former’s podcast, Byron Scott’s Fast Break.
Scott and Cooper reminisced about their Showtime Lakers days and the 80s’ brand of basketball. While discussing their tussles with the Celtics, the two Lakers legends pointed out that the rivalry wasn’t just a fabrication of the media like many rivalries are today. The players of both camps really hated each other.
Amidst the hatred, there was one Celtics player who didn’t receive any hate from the purple and gold camp. Scott revealed during the podcast that Dennis Johnson was the only Boston player he never hated.
To add more context to that statement, Cooper chimed in and said that he did hate DJ when he saw him in Celtics uniform. But after the season was over, it was all love between them.
Even though DJ was a threat to the Lakers, being an LA-born athlete helped him to get some love from the rivals.
Scott said, “The only guy on that team that I didn’t hate, was Dennis Johnson. And I didn’t hate DJ because he was from here, he was an LA kid.”
“He would be the only one where if we knocked him down, we would at least think about picking him up. The rest of them, we’d be like, ‘Man, f**k you. We ain’t picking you up.’ DJ was such a cool dude, but he was a Celtic. So we couldn’t stand him at that particular time.”
The Lakers legends spoke highly of the rivalry that the Lakers and the Celtics had. No two teams, other than these two, have managed to build up a rivalry like this throughout the NBA’s history.
They have met 12 times in the NBA Finals and share 35 Championships between them. Overall, the Celtics have a winning record against the Lakers. But during the prime of their rivalry in the 80s, the LA side got the better of them on more occasions.
They faced each other thrice in the Finals during the 80s. The Celtics won the first matchup in 1984, but the Lakers won the next two in 1985 and 1987. Despite going against each other in such high-pressure situations, Scott and Cooper came out with love and respect for DJ.
The legends were also proud to underline the animosity between the two teams. He pointed out how that stands in contrast with the modern rivalries in the NBA, where rivals behave more like friends than foes.
