The NBA Finals taught us a lot of different things this year. For one, it taught ESPN--or at least I hope it did--that this Finals matchup was nothing like Magic vs. Bird, and that Kobe Bryant, though still the best player in the league, isn't Michael Jordan. The comparisons need to stop now. In addition, the finals taught us that the Boston Celtics, despite almost getting knocked off by Atlanta (could it have been fixed to go 7?) and Cleveland are actually a great basketball team and lived up to their hype. And Finally....The NBA Finals taught us one more thing...... That the Boston Celtics (and their fans) have no class whatsoever.
We've all heard the phrase "act like you've been their before." The Boston Celtics did anything but this in during the NBA Finals last night. If I were a fan of the Boston Celtics, while I'd be happy they won, I would be ashamed of the performances the team put on during the 4th quarter last night. Don't get me wrong, the Celtics played an excellent ballgame...an excellent series for that matter....and in no way am I saying that they didn't deserve to win. However...Never, in all my years watching the NBA have I seen a team "show up" the other team that bad in the NBA Finals. With still half of the fourth quarter left to play, the Celtics superstars took forever to get off the court.....That's fine. Whatever. I understand that. However, after they exited, it was one big circus on the sidelines as the players were excessively celebrating, giving hugs, standing on the court....ALL WITH 6 MINUTES LEFT IN THE GAME!
Then, Doc Rivers decision to allow his players to run up the score was ridiculous. The game was already had and he's allowing his players to be on the floor throwing up alley-oops and score quickly rather than running down the clock......Then, if it weren't already bad enough.....Doc RIvers (right) gets the Gatorade shower while the game is still going on? I've never seen this in professional basketball ever! Thanks for spilling gatorade all over the court and forcing a TV timeout so they could clean the stuff up. On to the fans.....Chanting "Hey Hey Hey..... Goodbye" with 6 minutes left to go?.....Again.....not classy at all.
I know it was a blowout, but still.....look back at the previous championships won in the NBA by the Spurs, Heat, Pistons, Lakers, Bulls and Rockets. Not once IN ANY OF THOSE SERIES did I see anything that resembled the drama that the Boston Celtics had on their sidelines. They had too much respect for their opponent to pull those kind of stunts. The Boston Celtics had absolutely no respect for the Lakers whatsoever.
People might say that I'm just a "Boston hater," but that simply isn't true. Personally, I'm not a fan of either team, though I love watching NBA basketball. I just wanted to see a good series, and it really wasn't that. However, I still watched all the games. I congratulate the Celtics for their win......just not their class.
On a side note: Maybe the NBA won't have to put an age limit anymore as kids will probably want to stay in school after hearing Kevin Garnett's