Los Angeles Lakers legend AC Greene on the state of the rivalry with the Boston Celtics
"The Celtic games were always the one you wanted, the one you had to win," said Green.
The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers own the NBA's oldest and perhaps greatest rivalry, dating back to the years when the Lakers had yet to move from Minnesota to Los Angeles. It was a rivalry that was so larger than life, it was instrumental in helping propel the league from being in danger of collapse in the late 1970s to the cultural behemoth it is today. And former Laker AC Green was as in the thick of that chapter of the rivalry, perhaps the most intense of all the eras of the Celtics-Lakers feud.
Green spoke to The Action Network's Matt Moore about his time battling Boston for banners and the state of the rivalry today among much more in a wide-ranging interview. Some of the shine has come off that heated competition as the team shifts from being LeBron James' ship to that of Luka Doncic, which irks Green a bit. "The Celtic games were always the one you wanted, the one you had to win," said Green, citing a recent loss that saw LA looking lackluster.
"It's the one that you circled on your calendar. " "When the season came out in July your question was, 'When are we going to Boston, and when's Boston coming to LA? '," said the Laker legend.
"It was just that type of a rivalry. You never worried about where you were, if you or the team were going to be ready because you knew that was going to be war. " Green sees rivalries in the NBA more generally falling by the wayside in the league – and points to player movement as a factor.