Mark this day down in history, today is the first time in the history of mankind that a group of Celtics fans and a group of Lakers fans agree on something (for the most part). Sure there will be a few outcasts who disagree with their most hated rivals just to disagree, but for the most part this is a historical day.
The guys over at ESPN's Land O' Lakers blog followed in the footsteps of ESPN Boston's Chris Forsberg by doing their own Lakers Summer Forecast series. Thirteen experts that follow the guys in those gross purple and yellow uniforms sat down to tackle today's question of, "Which Eastern Conference team is the Lakers' strongest challenger?"
To my surprise, 9 out of the 13 experts chose the Celtics as the strongest competition in the east, while two choose the Heat and one went with the Orlando Magic. As you could probably guess, most of the guys that choose the Celtics based it on their experience and toughness.
Darius Soriano from Forum Blue and Gold summed it up the best:
While Miami poses the best hypothetical threat due to their extreme talent base, I still have to go with Boston. Yes the Celtics have aged a year and adding the O'Neals [Jermaine and Shaquille] doesn't make them any younger. But that team defines the term "tough out" and we all saw how hard the Celtics pushed the Lakers in last year's Finals. Granted, the Celtics will have to get to the Finals first but if they do I think they'd present the toughest challenge and would have the best chance of winning the series.
As much as I despise the Lakers, I feel the same way when it comes down to deciding between Miami and L.A. The Lakers are last year's champions (ugh, I hate to say that) and they didn't get any worse with the additions of Steve Blake and Matt Barnes. Although Miami does look good on paper, the Celtics and Lakers are the two teams to look out for when it comes down to it.
So to conclude (I still can't get over the fact that I'm saying this) Lakers and Celtics fans actually do agree on something; we both agree that Miami hasn't done nothin' yet. Now that we agree on something, it's time to get back to hating each other!
Hey Lakers fans, which team has won the most NBA championships? That's what I thought.
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